Long Day’s Journey Into Night

Pulitzer Prize-winning and two-time Tony Award winning play, Long Day’s Journey into Night by American Playwright Eugene O’Neil is largely autobiographical and hits the audience with the torment and longing for normality that this family crave. These characters constantly dance around issues as gradually more of the characters' selves are revealed throughout the play.

William Hurt plays, with subtlety, James Tyrone, the father who seeks introspective moments as he looks at the people who make up his family. A wife, Mary, (Robyn Nevin) addicted to morphine, who has never come to terms with her her baby son dying, who has a constant need to think about and mention her appearance. An older son, James Jnr (Todd Van Voris) who is alcoholic and favours booze and whores over stability and normalcy, and a young son, Edmund (Luke Mullins) who coughs and stoops as he tries to cope with the effects of consumption.

This is a long play, but it's not turgid. It cleverly draws us further and further into the complexities and frailties of this family. The fact that many things are never said could be telling of the period - it’s set in 1912 and the demographic is a middle- class American family at their holiday home in Connecticut.

The set by Michael Scott-Mitchell did not, for me, add to the play, rather, it dragged it down; it was rigid and very unlike a holiday home. I thought the set could have added an element of softness, comfort or colour to juxtapose the heavy, challenging text. It reminded me somewhat of oppressive Russian architecture, minimalist, drab and jagged with an element of red.

The first half of the play is fairly laboured and feels lengthy with the angst-ridden, addicted mother, Mary, expressing her feelings of loneliness and longing for beauty and money; mixed with the memories and demons of her past, she sways at times like she’s experiencing sea-sickness. She throws her head back prior to saying something, perhaps to assert that she is someone worthy of attention. Emily Russell plays Cathleen well, but to me, she's an unnecessary character within the text but does act as a foil between the petulant family members.

The emotional highlights and dynamic direction by Andrew Upton really takes shape in the second half. Although nearly twice as long as the first half, this is when the characters really break through some of their pent-up issues and there are even some comical moments and a measure of resolution.

In this half, mysteriously, the set opens up, which appears to mirror or parallel the fact that the characters become more open. There is a scene where the young son breaks the fourth wall and enters our world; he runs up the side of the auditorium and then sits on the stairs. The father and son exchange a dialogue between stage and stairs and I believe this acts as a gentle distraction whilst the set is changing.

The most interesting scene in the production takes place between Edmund (Luke Mullins) and James Snr (William Hurt) as they share some whisky and talk about life. The tension builds and the son riles his father over certain mistakes he (the father) has made. For a time the young son is robust and strong in presence and passion and the father is angered and hurt. After wild outbursts there is playfulness where Mullins stands high on the arms of the chairs and recites poems. In a ‘musical-esque’ moment Mullins drapes his arm around an upright light, almost like a lamppost and talks about poetry and writers. This whole scene is excellent; deeply moving and the clear stand out in the play.

Hurt has this wonderful gift, where at one moment he can be pent up, snarly and angered, then in another moment be soft and tender. It’s quite enchanting to watch and very clever and nuanced.

This play pushes us to think about our own lives, our families, our past and our future. It’s a timeless piece as these issues are still ever present in today’s world. This is definitely well worth a watch for anyone who wants to witness high quality dramatic writing from a master playwright delivered by top quality performers.

Emma Bell

Image: Luke Mullins and William Hurt in Long Day’s Journey Into Night by Eugene O’Neill presented by Sydney Theatre Company and Artists Repertory Theatre. Photo by Brett Boardman