Finding a Home: Salome Jens on Performing O'Neill

Salome Jens portrayed Josie Hogan in the Circle in the Square production of A Moon for the Misbegotten that first convinced critics of the merits of the play. In an interview with Dan McGovern, president of the board of the Eugene O'Neill Foundation, Jens discussed her interpretations of Josie Hogan, Abbie Putnam, and Mary Tyrone, as well as working with José Quintero, Theodore Mann, and Jason Robards. José Quintero cast Jens in the American premiere of Genet's The Balcony. Jens later replaced Colleen Dewhurst in Quintero's production of Desire under the Elms. Quintero gave Jens the key to Mary Tyrone when he directed her in a reading of Long Day's Journey Into Night. In O'Neill Jens "met my playwright. He and I had come together: craft and writing. That was . . . like going home." Jens remains active in theater, performing, and teaching.