Breathing new life into an old classic
Eugene O'Neill's gargantuan drama, 'Long Day's Journey Into Night', is not one for the theatrically faint-hearted. At over four hours, it demands equal amounts of concentration, commitment and physical energy from both the audience and the cast, and as such is something of an adventure to be undertaken only by those with a real love for the magic of the stage.
In the wrong hands, it can make you lose the desire to ever step inside the door of a theatre again and this, unfortunately, is an all too frequent experience. However, in the right hands, it becomes a sumptuous feast, a revelation of sorts that clarifies everything you missed, or only half glimpsed, on all those other tortuous nights.
This Druid production, directed by Gary Hynes, is most definitely in the safest of hands and from these it is returned to us, like a stately home restored to its original grandeur, so that its elegance and lost graces can be savoured once more.
Compelling
There is a compelling sense of almost ravaged beauty about every aspect of this production, from Francis O'Connor's expansive design, to Colin Town's haunting score.
But it is the ensemble performance of the cast that manages to truly surprise.
Their collective excellence suggests an intimacy with their individual characters and an overall understanding of O'Neill's writing that brings an energy and vitality to this theatrical war horse. and makes it possible for new light to fall on old words and new meaning to shine through.
Marie Mullen is heartbreaking as the tormented and brittle mother Mary Cavan Tyrone and James Cromwell counterbalances her emotional fragmentation in a carefully restrained performance as her husband, James Tyrone.
Michael Esper beautifully evokes their consumptive son Edmund and is a real joy to watch, while Aidan Kelly catches all the rough vulnerability of his older brother Jamie.
Richly rewarding and profoundly moving, this is a real and rare treat.
