Tag: Eugene O’Neill

Beyond The Horizon by Eugene O’Neill, Cottesloe Theatre. 19 June 2010

This production of an early Eugene O’Neil was twinned with a production of an early Tennessee Williams, Spring Storm, which we went to see a few weeks later, click here.

Janie and I are partial to a bit of Eugene O’Neill; almost as partial as we are to Tennessee Williams. While this early play is not one of O’Neill’s great plays, like the Williams, it shows all the signs of an emerging great playwright and was a thoroughly enjoyable evening at the theatre.

A very strong cast and production from a regional source; the Royal & Derngate Northampton, did great service to both productions.

The critics loved both; this search term – click here – will find you the reviews and stuff; mostly for both but some for this play specifically.

As on the prvious visit to the Cottesloe, we probably got some food from Shanghai Knightsbridge, “May’s”, afterwards. Either that or shawarmas.

The Iceman Cometh by Eugene O’Neill, Almeida Theatre, 18 April 1998

It had to be good for Janie to stay awake for best part of 4 hours

Thus spake my log.

It was very good. Kevin Spacey in the lead role. Excellent supporting cast, including Tim Pigott-Smith and Rupert Graves. Howard Davies directing.

Here’s a link to the Theatricalia entry.

Nicholas de Jongh liked it a lot in The Standard:

Iceman Standard de JonghIceman Standard de Jongh 15 Apr 1998, Wed Evening Standard (London, Greater London, England) Newspapers.com

Paul Taylor in The Independent, though positive, was less sure:

Iceman Independent TaylorIceman Independent Taylor 16 Apr 1998, Thu The Independent (London, Greater London, England) Newspapers.com

Our friend, Michael Billington, in The Guardian, was very keen on it:

Iceman Guardian BillingtonIceman Guardian Billington 16 Apr 1998, Thu The Guardian (London, Greater London, England) Newspapers.com

A Touch Of The Poet by Eugene O’Neill, Comedy Theatre, 26 March 1988

Not one of Eugene O’Neill’s greatest plays, but my log suggests that Bobbie and I both found this production very good…

…and why shouldn’t we. Vanessa Redgrave & Timothy Dalton, with support from Amanda Boxer, Malcolm Tierney and several other good names. David Thacker directed it.

Here is the Theatricalia entry for this production.

This was, in fact, a West End transfer of a much-lauded Young Vic production; the UK premier of this play. Bobbie and I couldn’t get in at the Young Vic but got in early during the transfer, so saw the original Young Vic cast/production.

Here is the Wikipedia entry on this lesser-known O’Neill play.

A rarity for a production of this antiquity, I have managed to find a review by Frederick Wilkins in The Eugene O’Neill Newsletter – dated Spring 1988 – which reviews the Young Vic production at both of its locations.

(Just in case anything ever happens to that Newsletter, I have scraped that fascinating review to here)

Michael Ratcliffe’s review is clipped below:

Michael Ratcliffe On CatMichael Ratcliffe On Cat Sun, Feb 7, 1988 – 26 · The Observer (London, Greater London, England) · Newspapers.com

Michael Billington admired the piece thus:

Billington on PoetBillington on Poet Thu, Feb 4, 1988 – 14 · The Guardian (London, Greater London, England) · Newspapers.com

I wonder what Bobbie remembers of that production and that evening?

Postscript: a couple of days before I got to this piece, to add the clips, in January 2020, I ran into Vanessa in Speck. Small world.

Long Day’s Journey Into Night by Eugene O’Neill, Theatre Royal Haymarket, 16 August 1986

I was reminded of this strange 1986 evening at the theatre in December 2019 by two events:

Rodgers & Hammerstein, For One Half Only, With Bobbie Scully, Theatre Royal Hanley, 2 September 1984

What is it about visits to theatres named Theatre Royal with Bobbie Scully, I wondered?

My log records the following from our 1986 visit to the Theatre Royal Haymarket:

This production was notable for the overlapping dialog to speed it up. Despite that mercy, we attended on one of the hottest days of the year and the air conditioning was poor or non existent. Quite literally, a fight broke out in the audience (just in front of us) at one point. Luvvie rage?

Ah yes, I remember it well.

I liked Jonathan Miller’s idea to use overlapping dialogue. While Long Day’s Journey is regarded as a great play, it is normally incredibly long for a play in which pretty much nothing happens. The overlapping dialogue shortens the play a fair bit. Further, it added a sense of realism to the drama. A family pretty much at war with itself probably would comprise people speaking a lot without really listening to anything the others are saying.

This was a Broadway production on transfer to the West End – the Haymarket was doing quite a few of those back then.

Here is a link to Frank Rich’s New York Times review from the April.

Jack Lemmon played the lead in this production and I thought he was very good.

A young unknown (to us) named Kevin Spacey played James Jr – I thought he overacted a fair bit, but then what do I know. In fairness, when Janie and I saw him 10-12 years later play the lead, Hicky, in The Iceman Cometh, I felt he had come on leaps and bounds as an actor.

As for the heat and the poor air conditioning and the flight – that for sure is my most abiding memory of the Long Day’s Journey evening.

The fight broke out towards the end of the interval. I think someone simply stepped on someone’s foot while trying to get back to their seat. So much so normal in those poorly designed, ludicrously-expensive-yet-space-restricted-seats in theatres housed in illustrious 19th century buildings such as the Theatre Royal Haymarket.

I seem to recall that both of the combatants were Americans. Perhaps the stomper was belatedly or insufficiently apologetic to the stompee, but anyway they actually stood there fighting for a while.

I especially remember a rather camp usher rushing to the end of the offending row, waving his arms and shouting,

Stop it! Stop it at once! Please stop fighting!…

…as if arm waving and pleas were likely to stop a couple of audience rage pugilists at that stage of the dispute.

I don’t suppose the fight lasted all that long, nor was anyone seriosuly hurt. Nor did either of the antagonists refuse to sit close to the other once they had calmed down – I think they were only two or three seats away from each other. Far enough, I suppose.

I do recall Bobbie and I deciding that the fight was the most action-packed dramatic incident of the evening. Long Day’s Journey is, in truth, a play in which almost nothing happens.

Here is a link to the Theatricalia entry for this production.

Here’s Michael Billington’r review of this production:

Michael Billington On Long Day's JourneyMichael Billington On Long Day’s Journey Tue, Aug 5, 1986 – 9 · The Guardian (London, Greater London, England) · Newspapers.com

Below is Blake Morrison’s Observer review – Morrison clearly thought more of this production than did Billington:

Blake Morrison's Observer ReviewBlake Morrison’s Observer Review Sun, Aug 10, 1986 – 17 · The Observer (London, Greater London, England) · Newspapers.com

I had logged this incorrectly as 4 August but actually we went 16 August.

My diary also reminds me that Bobbie and I went to Inigo Jones for a pre-theatre meal, which I describe as:

…fab nouvelle cuisine meal.

Remember Inigo Jones restaurant in Covent Garden? Remember nouvelle cuisine?

I also note that we…

…had coffee at Swiss…

…[i..e. The Swiss Centre] after the show.

Bobbie might now remember some or all about the evening, but last time I asked (17 February 2020) she drew a blank, other than remembering having seen this production with me.