Long Day’s Journey Into Night
Wow!! On Saturday, Eugene O’Neill’s “Long Day’s Journey Into Night” opened at the Theatricum Botanicum, and what an explosive night it was! The Pulitzer Prize-winning play was done all sorts of justice by a magnificent cast that kept the audience enthralled even as the notoriously long play crept into its third hour.
An autobiographical play telling the story of the O’Neill family’s pathological addictions to alcohol and injectables, this play remains fiercely relevant fifty years after its debut in a society that disdains responsibility in favor of pointing fingers. The present failures and the specter of what-could-have-been haunt each member of the family and results in a cacophony of accusations and vitriol that makes for fascinating viewing.
William Dennis Hunt is simply splendid as James Tyrone, the former matinee idol and patriarch of the mess that has become his family. With an uncanny resemblance to John Huston in appearance, demeanor, and voice, Hunt is both warm and gruff, at one moment loving and complimenting his family, and the next, deadpanning perfect ripostes at his drunken sons Jamie and Edmund (Jim LeFave and Aaron Hendry respectively), and morphine-addicted wife Mary (Ellen Geer).
James is a miserly figure whom his family blames for much of their dysfunction, and his timing is excellent, both in the dramatic scenes and the lighter ones where he is forever grumbling about his drunken sons nipping at his whiskey stash, and their unwillingness to secure paying jobs. His past as an actor who did commercially successful, but unsatisfying work, tears at him, and he feels partially responsible for Mary’s addiction as she was forced to travel during James’ performances and dwell alone in hotel rooms while her husband played the life of the bon vivant.
James also bears the responsibility of hiring a quack doctor who prescribed morphine to treat Mary after complications with Edmund’s childbirth. James’ parsimony is a recurrent theme and underscores the ugly circle of blame that envelops the family.
Hendry is wonderful as Edmund, the character O’Neill modeled after himself. Slight and vulnerable, Edmund has lived a nomadic existence on the seas, developed a healthy taste for booze, and finally come home after being stricken with consumption (tuberculosis). He’s the gentlest and most level-headed of the men and Hendry’s portrayal is nuanced and tender, never letting his sickness overcome his feelings for the family around him. Nevertheless, Hendry is no wilting flower, raging and lashing out in a vain effort to create harmony.
LeFave’s Jamie is a carouser who has piggy-backed on his father’s fame to land some acting roles, but whose real ambition is to booze, gamble, and chase women. He plays a convincing drunk, and has a hilarious scene near the end of the play when he comes home soused and recounts to Edmund his travails at a brothel where in a moment of mercy, he screwed an extremely overweight prostitute. Jamie is conflicted between his love for his little brother and his resentment toward him about his status as the favored one. His father gives him no quarter and despite his boisterousness and tough talk, LeFave’s Jamie is the weakest and most self-loathing of the characters in the play.
Mary is probably the saddest figure. Recently returned from a sanatorium to fight her addiction, she is now relapsing and her sons and husband are taking great pains to shield her from their own addictions and Edmund’s encroaching disease. Geer is sensational as the beaten down woman forever living in the past before her marriage to the dashing young James forced her to abandon her notion of what a home should be. Her aged and weak appearance belies the bitterness she feels at her faded dreams of becoming a nun or concert pianist, and Geer’s lilting intonation and airy movements evoke a ghost flitting through the house, but never really engaging with the others. When she appears at the end of the play and declares she wanted to be a nun, the lesson is clear: all members of the family are stuck with their pasts, themselves, and ultimately, one another.
“Long Day’s Journey Into Night” is no easy day at the office for an actor. The characters are angry, but the force of love is abundant and strong, and these actors do a sensational job portraying the divergent emotions believably and powerfully.
Having visited the Botanicum on only one prior occasion, to see Macbeth, I was curious if the outdoor venue would be suitable for a play that takes place almost entirely indoors. My doubts were put to rest, however, as the large stage allowed for the various furnishings and plenty of space to distinguish one room from another. The outdoor ambience, I noticed also, creates a powerful stillness that sometimes seems lacking in a cramped, indoor venue. This show is not to be missed!!!
“Long Day’s Journey Into Night” runs July 26th thru September 27th.
Fridays at 8 pm: August 1; September 5, 12, 19, 26
Saturdays at 8 pm: July 26; August 2, 9, 16, 23, 30; September 6, 13, 20, 27
Call (310) 455-3723 or go to www.theatricum.com for tickets.