William Hurt stars in O’Neill classic at Artists Repertory

By PAUL HAIST

article created on: 2010-08-01T00:00:00

When Artists Repertory Theatre presents Eugene O’neill’s “Long Day’s Journey Into Night” this month, it will be an opportunity for Portlanders to see not only a play that marked a turning point in American theater but a production of that milestone piece that comes with a pedigree and gifted players.

The play will open Aug. 13 at the Newmark Theatre with William Hurt as family patriarch James Tyrone; Australian mega-star Robyn Nevin as his wife Mary; Luke Mullins as James, Jr.; Todd Van Voris as the younger son and Emily Russell as Cathleen.

The play, written by an Irish American and about a dysfunctional Irish American family in 1912 Connecticut, is about as Jewish as the pope, but it is important for all theater lovers both for its intrinsic merit in the evolution of American theater and the vaunted stellar quality of this production under the direction of Andrew Upton.

Upton initially staged this production at the Sydney Theatre Company in Sydney, Australia, also with Hurt and Nevin at the top of the cast. Upton and his wife—Academy Award winner Cate Blanchett—are co-artistic directors of the Sydney Theatre Company.

The play’s enduring popularity derives from the universality of its characters and the fact that everyone can see something of their family in some parts of the play, be they Irish, Jewish, Flemish or any other ish.

Allen Nause is the artistic director of Artists Repertory Theatre. He said, “This play goes deeper than any play I have ever experienced. It peals away layers and gets to the essence of humanity.”

Nause is a friend and colleague of the internationally acclaimed Hurt who makes his home on a family property in far Eastern Oregon. They met while working together at the Oregon Shakespeare Festival in the 1970s.

“When William suggested bringing the production to Portland in 2010, I was enthusiastic,” said Nause.

Nause credits O’neill for “kind of creating” modern American drama. “He brought it out of melodrama,” he said. “It’s an autobiographical piece, where he grapples with the pain of his family and through the play comes to a sense of forgiveness. It’s a cathartic experience.”

Apart from the artistic significance of the Pulitzer Prize-winning script, the production has a stellar track record. In Sydney it was completely sold out before opening night, according to Nause.

One Sydney theater critic said of Upton’s production, “Upton…has taken to the heady task of directing one of the great plays with unbridled enthusiasm and vigor, readily apparent on the stage.”

The Sydney Theatre Company has a reputation for exporting successful stage productions to the United States. Blanchett’s production of Tenessee William’s “A Streetcar Named Desire” played to sold-out audiences at the Kennedy Center and in New York.

With that in mind, Nause encouraged theater goers not to wait to buy tickets.

The play runs through Aug. 29. Tickets are available Ticketmaster.com or by calling 1-800-745-3000.