SITE GUIDE
SEARCH
REVIEWS
REVIEW ARCHIVES
ADVERTISING AT CURTAINUP
FEATURES
NEWS
Etcetera and
Short Term Listings
LISTINGS
Broadway
Off-Broadway
NYC Restaurants
BOOKS and CDs
OTHER PLACES
Berkshires
London
California
New Jersey
DC
Connecticut
Philadelphia
Elsewhere
QUOTES
TKTS
PLAYWRIGHTS' ALBUMS
LETTERS TO EDITOR
FILM
LINKS
MISCELLANEOUS
Free Updates
Masthead
A CurtainUp DC Review
Long Day’s Journey into Night
|
But I suppose life has made him like that, and he can't help it. None of us can help the things life has done to us. They're done before you realize it, and once they're done they make you do other things until at last everything comes between you and what you'd like to be, and you've lost your true self forever. — Mary, speaking first of her husband, James Tyrone, Sr. and then of herself. . . . before the fog comes back, as we know it will. Mary to James Sr. |
Helen Carey as Mary Tyrone in at Arena Stage. Photo by .
(Photo: Scott Suchman)
|
Fortunately, at Arena Stage, in its intimate Kreeger theater, there is a very memorable and commendable Journey, thanks in large part to the incandescent performance of Helen Carey as Mary, the tragic lady whose pain killers have led her into the vortex of addiction. Like many addicts, Mary lies to her family, claiming that the pills she takes are for the rheumatism in her hands. From the play’s beginning, one of Ms. Carey’s subtle clues as to what is to come is how she holds her hands — one finger open, the others closed into a fist. It is as though she holds much of the tension of her life in those arthritic hands.
Mary has plenty to worry about: she hasn't had much of a life married to an actor who is tight-fisted with money and heavy-handed while pouring his booze. She bore three children, one of whom died. Of the two who survived, James Jr., (Andy Bean) tells truths she does not wish to hear and Edmund (Nathan Darrow), the poet, the stand-in for the playwright in this his most autobiographical play, is ill and weakened by tuberculosis.
As James Sr., Peter Michael Goetz, who has a magnificent baritone voice, delivers his lines in a manner consistent with who he is meant to be, an actor,a stentorian whose stage presence is noted by all who encounter him, on stage and off. More precisely O’Neill’s father, who ruined or made (depending on your point of view) his career by playing the same role over and over, a sinecure that kept the family financially afloat – almost. The steady income the work provided also gave James Sr. the cash to invest in real estate which did not always turn out well. He was a miser, something his sons and especially his wife remind him of frequently. It was his hiring of a cheap “hotel doctor” who prescribed morphine for the pain she experienced in childbirth that led to Mary’s addiction.
James Tyrone Jr., as played by Andy Bean, is a worthless lout with one redeeming feature: he loves his younger brother. The physically and emotionally fragile Edmund, in Nathan Darrow’s interpretation is the far more likeable of the two. Sympathy for his predicament is strong and so is his performance. As the Irish maid Cathleen, Helen Hedman strikes all the right cadences.
Costume designer Susan Benson has outfitted the actors appropriately and there is something special about Mary’s ladylike mauve outfits that make her look more like a social success rather than a lonely homebody. Hisham Ali’s set is something of a disconnect, however. Ceiling-to-floor shelves filled with books are highly appropriate of course, as are the portrait of Shakespeare on the wall and the large chandelier that James Sr. likes to turn down to save money, but the greige colored walls (redolent of the real and metaphoric fog that is referred to frequently) and beautifully upholstered furniture suggest a room featured in a design magazine rather than the house Mary refers to as shabby. What Ali and Phillips seem to be saying with this set is that the house was not shabby in spite of Mary’s protestations.
I remember vividly the Long Day’s Journey I saw on Broadway almost a decade ago. Vanessa Redgrave gave a very mannered performance as Mary, leading audiences to think that she had been the one who had a long stage career. She was over the top. Jamie, the elder son, played brilliantly by Philip Seymour Hoffman, became the center of the family and the production. Fortunately, Arena’s Journey is well-balanced and quite wonderful.
|
Long Day’s Journey Into Night By Eugene O’Neill Directed by Robin Phillips Set Designer, Hisham Ali Costume Designer, Susan Benson Lighting Designer, Michael Whitfield Sound Designer, James Sugg Wig Designer, Paul Huntley Cast: Helen Carey (Mary); Peter Michael Goetz (James Tyrone Sr.); Andy Bean (James Tyrone Jr.); Nathan Darrow (Edmund); Helen Hedman (Cathleen). Running time: 3 hours with one 20-minute intermission. Arena Stage, 1101 6th St., SW; 202-488-3300; www.arenastage.org; dates: March 30 to May 6, 2012. Review by Susan Davidson based on April 5, 2012 performance. REVIEW FEEDBACK Highlight one of the responses below and click "copy" or"CTRL+C"
For a feed to reviews and features as they are posted add http://curtainupnewlinks.blogspot.com to your reader Curtainup at Facebook . . . Curtainup at Twitter Subscribe to our FREE email updates: E-mail: esommer@curtainup.comesommer@curtainup.com put SUBSCRIBE CURTAINUP EMAIL UPDATE in the subject line and your full name and email address in the body of the message |
Book of Mormon -CD