By FREEMAN STAFF

The Saugerties Performance Art Factory will stage Eugene O’Neill’s lost play, “Exorcism,” directed by Bruce Grund and featuring Michael Da Torre, Eric Jagoda, Jon Lee, Leif Grund and Douglas Koop at 7:30 p.m. tonight and Saturday.

The O’Neill play will  be followed both nights by “Miles from Somewhere,” a one-man play written and performed by Domenic Silipo. Both performances are part of SPAC’s grand gala. Doors open at 7 p.m. for visitors to enjoy the SPAC gallery and bar.

This lost play was last performed in Greenwich Village by the legendary Provincetown Players, with whom the young O’Neill collaborated on several of his early works.

The only American playwright ever to be awarded the Nobel Prize for Literature, O’Neill destroyed what was thought to be all copies of the play after the last performance. Recently, a single copy surfaced after 92 years. The New Yorker magazine published it in October 2011 and Yale University Press republished the play as a book this month. The Arena Stage in Washington, D.C., gave a reading of the play – not a full production – three weeks ago.

Very autobiographical in its portrayal of the young O’Neill, and his father, the drama stars Grund and Jahoda with Da Torre, Koop, and Larry Healy in supporting roles. It is directed by SPAF’s artistic director, Bruce Grund. Healy designed and built the set and lighting design was done by Mark Maxwell. Costuming is by Angie Mahdavian and Sarkis Simonian is the stage manager.

The “Optimistic Voices” of Jazz Cabaret Duo, Ann Osmond and Dennis Yerry will lighten things up and Woodstock Tango, founded and directed by Ilene Marder, will close the evening with a dance performance featuring guest artist Sid Grant.

Admission is $15 for all events except the children’s show Saturday, which is by donation.

Tickets can be purchased by phoning (845) 246-7723, or online at thespaf.com.

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