Long Day’s Journey Into RVA

Photos provided by Liv Wilson. Design images provided by Daniel Allen and Nancy Coles.

By Liv Wilson

Eugene O’Neill’s classic play Long Day’s Journey Into Night comes to Cadence this fall, reviving the masterpiece and highlighting extraordinary local talent.  

Long Day’s Journey Into Night is generally recognized as one of the greatest plays in the American theatre canon, presenting a semi-autobiographical version of O'Neill, his family, and the struggle of grappling with each other’s shortcomings. This play calls to memory the opening line of Tolstoy’s Anna Karenina, "Happy families are all alike; every unhappy family is unhappy in its own way." The Tyrones are particularly unhappy in a very particular way.

As with every revival of a play deeply seeded in the canon, we must ask: Why this play now? We turned to the director, Rusty Wilson to answer this question. “Any play or story that deals honestly and artfully with the human condition through the prism of family relationships is both timely and timeless, in my view. This particular play is elevated story-telling, and is universally relevant. Through the specific lens of the family Tyrone, we are asked to consider universal challenges including our current political scene in the US and abroad, addiction, faith, forgiveness, blame, and abuse in a variety of forms.” 

The cast also had thoughts on the prevailing universality of the piece. Robin Arthur (Mary Tyrone) notes the timelessness of family ties. “They hold tight. Those relationships color and influence our lives forever.” Scenic Designer, Daniel Allen points out the humanness of this story: the problems, the struggles, the misery, the joy, the good parts and the bad. He remarks, “As long as we are experiencing life, realism in the theater, its values, and its tropes will always have a valid place… we often learn by observing.” 

Matt Radford Davies (James Tyrone Sr.) touches on the realness of this intimate family portrait that transcends time. “The Tyrones, for all their inhuman vitriol, deeply touch our sense of a shared humanity. ‘Love,’ which feels like a term easily thrown around nowadays, is barely mentioned in this 3.5 hour drama, and yet it seeps through the pores of every scene, every furious exchange, every downed tumbler of whiskey.”

Matt felt particularly connected to the Irish immigrant family as someone from a Celtic background, highlighting the importance of the play today. “Set in a period of extensive immigration (and resistance to it), the Tyrones are constantly negotiating their individual senses of place, belonging, and alienation from the New England community beyond the walls of their solidly unassuming house. Their struggles echo across the intervening century, prompting urgent questions about what it means to be American in a culturally fluid society.”

Rusty also has a close personal connection to this story. He first experienced this play as a teenager with his father. “I was shattered and somehow, affirmed. It helped me identify and navigate my own family trauma in ways I wouldn’t have been able to understand without that mirror.” Family dynamics are often brutally challenging, and art can often be an outlet, if not a validating reflection of the pain of dysfunctionality. Rusty’s experience with this play as a teenager shifted his attention from music to theatre and the process of storytelling.

Rusty continues, “This play asks us to take a good, long look at how we behave towards each other and hopefully learn something about ourselves in the process. William Faulkner once said that the only stories worth telling deal with, “the human heart in conflict with itself.” I heartily agree. This story is the poster child of that statement. It is both timely, and timeless, making it absolutely relevant to our Richmond community and beyond, right now.”

Artistic and Managing Director, Anna Senchal Johnson, has heard Rusty share his childhood story about Long Day’s Journey Into Night many times, going back to their days together at Company of Fools in Idaho. Johnson says “It’s always reminded me how storytelling can change lives, and we’re honored to help fulfill his dream of directing his favorite play.”

Amidst battles with addiction and moral flaws, the Tyrone family cannot escape the bitterness of unfulfilled dreams, even in Monte Cristo Cottage, their Connecticut home (in the play, the O’Neills’ summer home in real life).

A few years ago, I had the privilege of visiting Monte Cristo Cottage. The summer property is right on the water, separated only by a strip of green and a new road. The fog horns can indeed be heard from inside the wood-paneled parlor. Upstairs, the pain of Ella O’Neill (Mary Tyrone in the play) is palpable. The rooms feel hauntingly frozen in time. The rope beds were made. The desks strewn with papers, scribbled letters, and eyeglasses carelessly tossed to the side. I could practically smell the whiskey and resentment.

We asked Scenic Designer, Daniel Allen, about his approach to creating this set. “We’ve leaned into the play's historical roots on this production. And are acknowledging very frankly that this is a ghost story. This is a play of memories, how they can haunt, and how they weigh and settle in the bones in the same way a ghost of your past can.” The set utilizes aged and faded pieces to elicit the feeling of a haunting memory. 

Particularly important in the design of the space is the inclusion (or exclusion) of the audience. “We’ve made the distinct choice to separate the audience from the piece via a framing device that encompasses the space and guides the audience's vision into specific sections of the home. This way they are almost like voyeurs - viewing a slice of this family's life from behind the closed doors that wouldn’t otherwise be on display to the public.”

As for costumes, designer Nancy Coles notes that garments do not only indicate the era and season, but help show each character's personality. “As the play goes on, the unchanged or untidy costumes reflect how trapped the family is in their pain and habits.” In these subtle ways, design creates practically imperceptible shifts in the environment of the play, inconspicuously altering the mood of the audience.

Finally, we asked the cast how they were able to wade through the whiskey-soaked resentment of Long Day’s Journey Into Night. Matt recalls, “Samuel Beckett, liked to say, "There's nothing funnier than unhappiness." In my experience, the tougher the play the more joyous and laughter-filled the experience of rehearsing it. The cast and production team become climbers scaling a mountain with many peaks. The colder and harsher the conditions, the more we bond to each other for warmth. (The reverse can also be true for comedies!)” Robin agreed that interactions with fellow actors have been thoughtful, honest, and open, and “Trust and support have been available and evident since the first read through!”

Long Day’s Journey Into Night runs at Firehouse Theatre September 26th - October 11th. On September 28, Director Rusty Wilson, and the cast will participate in a post-show talkback moderated by Christopher Corts. Cadence’s production of O’Neill’s classic play is not to be missed!