Auckland Theatre company is offering lovers of the classics a chance to see a theatrical masterpiece with its July production, Long Day’s Journey into Night by Eugene O’Neill.
Featuring a stellar cast led by Theresa Healey and Stephen Lovatt, Long Day’s Journey into Night details one turbulent day in the lives of the Tyrone family at their seaside Connecticut home.
James, played by Lovatt, the head of the Tyrone family, is held ransom to his own great expectations for himself and his family. Stifled by addiction, rivalry and ill-fated predicament, James and his sons – played by Simon Leary and Jarod Rawiri in his Auckland Theatre Company debut, vie for the love and attention of their wife and mother Mary.
Played by Healey, Mary is battling her own not-so-private war of addiction, wrapped in a shroud of bitter memories and resentment.
Theresa Healey joins a top echelon of leading ladies who have taken on the role of Mary Tyrone, often referred to as the female equivalent to Hamlet, due to the demands on an actor’s stamina and the immense skills needed. It requires the actor to play bold contradictions and layering of emotions, with fluidity and velocity.
Notable past Mary’s include acclaimed actress’ Jessica Lange, Katharine Hepburn, Vanessa Redgrave and more recently, British actress Lesley Manville in the 2018 New York production.
Considered to be the original founder of 20th Century American drama and the only American playwright to be awarded the Nobel Prize in literature, O’Neill also received four Pulitzer Prizes during his remarkable career, the last awarded in 1957 after his death for this searing autobiographical tragedy.
Director Shane Bosher has created a new production that fans of the great modern classics will love, and contemporary audiences will find undeniably relatable.
“I have wanted to direct this play for decades,” Bosher says.
“It’s a gripping dissection of family relationships, rich in wisdom and underpinned by deep love, which makes us consider our own lives, our past, our present, our future.
“To me, it is a love letter to humanity. O’Neill wrote about secrets and lies, punishment and forgiveness, recriminations and excuses. The writing is like a piece of extraordinary music: melodies are introduced, then refracted and repeated. And to play that music, you need actors of great depth, courage, virtuosity and technique. I’m so lucky to be working with Theresa, Stephen, Jarod and Simon on one of the most profound and powerful plays ever written.”
LONG DAY’S JOURNEY INTO NIGHT by Eugene O’Neill
Q Theatre, 305 Queen St, Auckland
5 – 30 July 2022
Tickets and info www.atc.co.nz 0800 ATC TIX
