Long Day's Journey Into Night

1997 Chicago Citizen Theatre Review by Lawrence Dunn of The Excaliber Shakespeare Company of Chicago's multiracial cast revival of Eugene O'Neill's "Long Day's Journey Into Night" directed by Darryl Maximilian Robinson and presented at The Heartland Cafe Studio Theatre in The Windy City.

1997 Chicago Skyline Theatre Review by Beverly Friend of the Excaliber Shakespeare Company of Chicago's multiracial cast revival of Eugene O'Neill's "Long Day's Journey Into Night" directed by Darryl Maximilian Robinson and presented at The Heartland Cafe Studio Theatre in The Windy City.

A copy of Excaliber Shakespeare Company of Chicago Acting Company Member Ian Vogt's 1998 Chicago Joseph Jefferson Citation Award Nomination for Outstanding Actor In A Supporting Role In A Play for his performance as Edmund Tyrone in O'Neill's "Long Day's Journey Into Night."

The script of the great American playwright Eugene O'Neill's "Long Day's Journey Into Night" featuring a photo of the famed author on the cover.

Director Darryl Maximilian Robinson has had the honor of staging two multiracial cast revivals of Eugene O'Neill's Pulitzer Prize-winning drama "Long Day's Journey Into Night" during his theatre career. The first was in 1993 as an Excaliber Productions, Ltd. staging at Cummel's Cafe in St. Louis which featured Mr. Robinson as James Tyrone, Sr., Suzzette Sutton ( in a truly wonderful performance ) as Mary Tyrone, William Rapp, Jr. ( a fine young actor ) as James Tyrone, Jr., and talented young actors Ben Wright as Edmund Tyrone and Amy Mohme as the second girl, Cathleen. Director Robinson's second staging occurred in 1997 as a revival by The Excaliber Shakespeare Company of Chicago at The Heartland Cafe Studio Theatre in The Windy City. Mr. Robinson staged the work and played the role of James, Sr. with a highly gifted cast which included Danielle Gordon as Mary, Steven Young as James, Jr. Ian Vogt as Edmund and Joslyn Housley as Cathleen. Mr. Vogt's performance as Edmund was so outstanding that he was both nominated for, and won, a 1998 Chicago Joseph Jefferson Citation Award as Outstanding Actor In A Supporting Role In A Play!

Long Day's Journey Into Night is the story of a day in the life of a loving but dysfunctional Irish-American family as it is torn apart by addiction, resentment, and regret. It is also Eugene O'Neill's most autobiographical play, hence his insistence that it not be published until after his death. Winner of the 1957 Pulitzer Prize.

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This play provides examples of:

• Author Avatar: O'Neill spent a great deal of his early adulthood at sea, battled with alcoholism and depression, and suffered from tuberculosis, just like Edmund.
• Creator Breakdown
• Downer Ending: It is implied that the end scene has been and will be repeated many, many more times.
• Fatal Flaw: See above.
• Generation Xerox: Perhaps one of the morals of the play, sad as it may be.
• Ignored Epiphany
• Incurable Cough of Death: Actually Tuberculosis.
• It Was His Sled: Morphine. Alcoholism. Tuberculosis. James (most likely) accidentally killed his infant brother. Edmund is Eugene O'Neill.
• Lampshade Hanging: "What a bastard to have for a father! Christ, if you put him in a book, no one would believe it!"
• Parents as People: And how. Mary and James are depressingly human.
• The Disease That Shall Not Be Named: Literally. Edmund tries not to speak about his illness, as he believes it could be his mother's final breaking point.
• The Ophelia: Mary, especially in the last scene. Mostly due to the morphine.
  • James: The mad scene. Enter Ophelia!
• Shout-Out/Literature: Edmund compares himself to a seagull.
• Shout-Out/To Shakespeare: Too many to count; the Tyrones are a family of actors, after all.
• Write Who You Know: Where to begin? Everyone is directly based on his real family and even share their first named: O'Neill's father was a famous Melodrama actor named James; his addict mother's first name was Mary, although she went by Ella; and his older brother was James Jr (Jamie). There's even a fleeting reference to the dead infant son being named Eugene-- essentially O'Neill swaps names with Edmund the Author Avatar, the actual name for his dead sibling.
• https://www.backstage.com/interview/igotcast-darryl-maximilian-robinson/