The Straw

One of his lesser-known plays, Eugene O’Neill’s semi-biographical The Straw follows 18-year-old Eileen Carmody’s stay at a sanatorium after being diagnosed with tuberculosis. She befriends and falls in love with patient Stephen Murray, but Stephen does not share her feelings. As Eileen’s condition worsens, an act of charity leads Stephen to an epiphany and a determination to challenge the inevitable. O’Neill wrote The Straw in 1919 and drew from his own experience as a tuberculosis patient.

The play has three acts but is relatively short, and offers emotional leading roles for two strong dramatic actors.