Long Day's Journey Into Night

Long Day's Journey Into Night is a dramatic play in four acts by Eugene O'Neill, widely considered to be his masterwork. It was first produced on Broadway and published in 1956, three years after its author's death. It won the Pulitzer Prize for Drama in 1957.

Productions

In keeping with O?Neill?s wishes, Long Day's Journey Into Night was first performed by the Royal Dramatic Theatre in Stockholm, Sweden. During his lifetime, the Swedish had embraced O?Neill?s work to a far greater extent than had any other nation, including his own. Thus, the play had its world premiere in Stockholm on February 2, 1956, in a production directed by Bengt Ekerot, with the cast of Lars Hanson (James Tyrone), Inga Tidblad (Mary Tyrone), Ulf Palme (James Tyrone, Jr.), Jarl Kulle (Edmund Tyrone) and Caterine Westerlund (Cathleen, the serving-maid or "second girl" as O'Neill's script dubs her).

Related Topics:
Stockholm - Sweden - February 2 - 1956 - Ulf Palme

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The Broadway debut of Long Day's Journey Into Night took place at the Helen Hayes Theatre on November 7, 1956. The production was directed by José Quintero, and its cast included Fredric March (James Tyrone), Florence Eldridge (Mary Tyrone), Jason Robards, Jr. (?Jamie? Tyrone) Bradford Dillman (Edmund), and Katharine Ross (Cathleen). The production won 1957 Tony Award for Best Play and Best Actor in a Play (Fredric March).

Related Topics:
Broadway - November 7 - 1956 - José Quintero - Fredric March - Jason Robards, Jr. - Katharine Ross - Tony Award - Best Play - Best Actor in a Play

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The play?s first production in the United Kingdom came in 1958, opening first in Edinburgh, Scotland and then moving to the Globe Theatre in London?s West End. It was directed again by Quintero, and the cast included Anthony Quayle (Tyrone), Gwen Ffrangcon-Davies (Mary), Ian Bannen (Jamie), Alan Bates (Edmund), and Etain O?Dell (Cathleen).

Related Topics:
United Kingdom - 1958 - Edinburgh - Scotland - London - West End - Anthony Quayle - Gwen Ffrangcon-Davies - Ian Bannen - Alan Bates - Etain O?Dell

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The play was made into a 1962 film starring Katharine Hepburn as Mary, Ralph Richardson as Tyrone, Jason Robards, Jr. as Jamie, Dean Stockwell as Edmund, and Jeanne Barr as Cathleen. The movie was directed by Sidney Lumet. At that year?s Cannes Film Festival Richardson, Robards and Stockwell all received Best Actor awards, and Hepburn was named Best Actress. Hepburn?s performance would later draw a nomination for the Academy Award for Best Actress.

Related Topics:
1962 - Katharine Hepburn - Ralph Richardson - Jason Robards, Jr. - Dean Stockwell - Jeanne Barr - Sidney Lumet - Cannes Film Festival - Academy Award for Best Actress

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OTHER NOTABLE PRODUCTIONS

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• 1971, Promenade Theatre (Broadway), New York; with Robert Ryan (Tyrone), Geraldine Fitzgerald (Mary), Stacy Keach (Jamie), James Naughton (Edmund), and Paddy Croft (Cathleen). Directed by Arvin Brown.
• 1971, National Theatre, London; with Laurence Olivier (Tyrone), Constance Cummings (Mary), Denis Quilley (Jamie), Ronald Pickup (Edmund), and Jo Maxwell-Muller (Cathleen). This production would be adapted into televised version, which aired March 10, 1973; the cast was as above, excepting the substitution of Maureen Lipman (Cathleen). The TV version was directed by Michael Blakemore and Peter Wood.
• 1976, Brooklyn Academy of Music, Brooklyn, NY; with Jason Robards, Jr. (Tyrone), Zoe Caldwell (Mary), Kevin Conway (Jamie), Michael Moriarty (Edmund), and Lindsay Crouse (Cathleen). Directed by Jason Robards, Jr.
• 1982, ABC-TV; with an all African-American cast of Earle Hyman (Tyrone), Ruby Dee (Mary), Thommie Blackwell (Jamie), and Peter Francis-James (Edmund).
• 1986, Broadhurst Theatre (Broadway), New York; with Jack Lemmon (Tyrone), Bethel Leslie (Mary), Kevin Spacey (Jamie), Peter Gallagher (Edmund), and Jodie Lynne McClintock (Cathleen). Directed by Jonathan Miller. A television version of this production was aired in 1987.
• 1988, Neil Simon Theatre (Broadway), New York; with Jason Robards, Jr. (Tyrone), Colleen Dewhurst (Mary), Jamey Sheridan (Jamie), Campbell Scott (Edmund), and Jane Macfie (Cathleen). Directed by José Quintero. This production ran in repertory with O?Neill?s play Ah, Wilderness! (in which the author?s youth and family are depicted as he wished they had been), featuring the same actors. Dewhurst was also the real-life mother of Campbell Scott (by her marriage to actor George C. Scott).
• 1991, National Theatre, London; with Timothy West (Tyrone), Prunella Scales (Mary), Sean McGinley (Jamie), Stephen Dillane (Edmund), and Geraldine Fitzgerald (Cathleen). Directed by Howard Davies.
• 1995, Stratford Festival of Canada, Stratford, Ontario; with William Hutt (Tyrone), Martha Henry (Mary), Peter Donaldson (Jamie), Tom McCamus (Edmund), and Martha Burns (Cathleen). Directed by Diana Leblanc. This production was made into a film in 1996, directed by David Wellington.
• 2000, Lyric Theatre, London; with Jessica Lange (Mary), Charles Dance (Tyrone), Paul Rudd (Jamie), Paul Nicholls (Edmund), and Olivia Colman (Cathleen).
• 2003, Plymouth Theatre (Broadway), New York; with Brian Dennehy (Tyrone), Vanessa Redgrave (Mary), Philip Seymour Hoffman (Jamie), Robert Sean Leonard (Edmund), and Fiana Toibin (Cathleen). Directed by Robert Falls.