Document text
2 of 3 Premium Clicks used this month SUBSCRIBE Print + Online Subscriber Activation | Register x Forgot Password | Need an Account? e-edition | subscribe | newsletter | deals Home News Latest Stories Police investigate mini-spree of White City car break-ins Oregon Attorney General sues White City company at center of alleged subscription scam Siskiyou County man arrested near Talent on kidnapping charges One person suffers smoke inhalation in Ashland house fire on Union Street Ashland Rotary plans Easter egg hunt Crime, Courts and Emergency Services Police investigate mini-spree of White City car break-ins Oregon Attorney General sues White City company at center of alleged subscription scam Siskiyou County man arrested near Talent on kidnapping charges One person suffers smoke inhalation in Ashland house fire on Union Street Emergency Services, March 31 Politics and Elections Jackson County Commissioners plan no tax on marijuana for one year Arthur I. Cyr: Iran – a crisis without end Arthur I. Cyr: South Korea represents long-term triumph – for them and for US Special election: Jackson County voters OK marijuana tax Ex-Merkley aide chosen as Oregon secretary of state Education Southern Oregon Education Service District superintendent to retire in June Which comes first: The rocket or the egg? Medford School District one of most accident-prone in state Dianne Williamson: College admissions mania ill-advised Oregon legislators may end fifth-year high school programs Environment A sea-foam change Rogue Valley lions on their way to California Corps hopes to clear Lost Creek Lake of debris Beetles taking toll on Ashland pines Mt. Ashland Ski Area to host party March 28 State News Oregon ski areas ask lawmakers for re-strengthened lawsuit protection More truck traffic coming into Oregon via Highway 97 Man pleads guilty to trying to set up Oregon terrorist training camp Bend police kill cougar above popular hiking trail 5 things to know about Oregon's gun-control bill Nation - World Obituaries Floyd E. Hayner Maryline "Whitie" White Death Notices Sonya ‘Sa’ Kay Gremmels (N�e Satter) Claudine Barbara Pollard Weather Photo Galleries Since You Asked Videos Web Cams Mail Tribune 100 Shareable Sports Latest Stories Comets drop two games in Fresno tourney Playoff bound After rough start, UConn reaches Final Four Long-time softball tourney undergoes changes Celtics win to aid playoff push Varsity 541 College Sports After rough start, UConn reaches Final Four Kaminsky, Okafor lead All-America first team Ducks' following continues to grow South Carolina earns first Final Four berth Only blue bloods need apply Pro Sports Playoff bound Celtics win to aid playoff push Cleveland GM gets suspended for texting Bill Ballou: Pace-of-game rules are a good start to improving baseball Walker wins hometown Texas Open Community Sports Business Latest Stories Cars We Remember: ‘Topper’ movie car most memorable After being sidelined by blindness, Stan Moore returns to the bike business in Medford Mandatory paid sick leave gets mixed reviews Blog: How to Practice Patience Ride & Drive: 2015 Land Rover Range Rover Evoque Real Estate News East McAndrews Road sees a resurgence in commercial projects Business briefs: March 7 New construction prices jump 18.2 percent in Jackson County People In Business People in Business, March 26, 2015 Transportation Rogue Disposal plans natural gas fueling site Alaska, United Express boost Medford airport to record February CEO Rieder leaving Erickson March 31 Agriculture Broth maker leaves San Diego for Medford Harry & David announces new president Opinion Latest Landgren cartoon: European travel essentials Our View: Lawmakers ending a small annoyance in the law Letters to the Editor, March 31 Guest Opinion: Marijuana offers Oregon benefits, drawbacks Wry & Ginger: Daylight saving and our hour of need Editorials Our View: Lawmakers ending a small annoyance in the law Other Views: Sage grouse listing would be unfortunate Our View: Phoenix lion sanctuary was a missed opportunity Other Views: Gun background check bill won't make us safer Our View: Some police videos should be released Letters to the Editor Letters to the Editor, March 31 Letters to the Editor, March 30 Letters to the Editor, March 29 Letters to the Editor, March 28 Letters to the Editor, March 27 Columns Guest Opinion: Marijuana offers Oregon benefits, drawbacks Kathleen Parker: A leap of faith — into thin air George Will: Remembrance of Clintons past Dana Milbank: The end of the White House's insularity? Guest Opinion: How to end the influence of money in elections Guest Opinions Guest Opinion: Marijuana offers Oregon benefits, drawbacks Guest Opinion: How to end the influence of money in elections Guest Opinion: How schools teach U.S. history raises hackles Guest Opinion: Guest Opinion: Raise your voice against child abuse Lifestyle Latest stories Garden Cameos: Planning for a fragrant garden year round Book Notes: America’s Test Kitchen takes a detailed look at vegetarian cooking Food for Thought: Plan the perfect alfresco gathering Shayne Looper: Don't shrink-wrap the truth Dr. Elaine Heffner: Words that stick Food Tammy Kelly: Lighten up traditional Easter desserts Kitchen Call: Goat cheese recipes worth bleating over Community blog: Try slightly smoky baked beans instead of refried App Finder: Best barbecue apps Health Watch: It’s OK to have a cheat day Home and Garden Garden Cameos: Planning for a fragrant garden year round Paul Rogers: Choose the right tool for job in the garden Home Help: Easy enhancements for your master closet Prepare the beds for summer vegetables Hot tub: The perfect centerpiece for outdoor living Health Brent St. Germain: Feeling the burn again HealthStyle: Normal anxiety or anxiety disorder? Community blog: How to Get Rid of a Tension Headache St. Mary's student helps others with diabetes Community blog: Sleep Tight: Making Your Bed, Body and Mind Ready for Rest Hiking Biking Faith Religion briefs: Friday, March 27 Religion briefs Religion News: Presbyterian Church gives approval on same-sex marriage Religion briefs: Friday, March 13 More religion events in the Rogue Valley Milestones and Achievements Haga-Parks Exercise helps special-needs kids adjust to airport procedures Engagement: Workman-Wright Columnist for a Day Rogue Healthy Aging Tempo Latest stories Trivia Tuesdays at South Stage Cellars Sweetwater String Band tonight at Oberon's Tavern in Ashland Rising Stars raises $10,000 for LIFE Art ‘Million Dollar Quartet’ plays the Craterian Theater Here's Tempo's top five picks for live entertainment this week Theater Review: From past into present in OSF's 'Long Day's Journey' ‘A Dream of Red Pavilions’ at the Oregon Shakespeare Festival Review: Education and its discontents Next Stage Repertory presents 'Educating Rita' at the Craterian Theater Eugene O'Neill's 'Long Day's Journey into Night' opens at the Oregon Shakespeare Festival Music Sweetwater String Band tonight at Oberon's Tavern in Ashland Rising Stars raises $10,000 for LIFE Art ‘Million Dollar Quartet’ plays the Craterian Theater Futurebirds play the Brickroom in Ashland The 2015 Rising Stars music competition ends with its final round on the Britt stage in Jacksonville Community Events Trivia Tuesdays at South Stage Cellars Rogue Valley artist Linda Evans' pastel paintings capture landscapes of Southern Oregon Ashland Independent Film Festival announces this year's lineup OSF Hip-Hop Poetry Open Mic Ashland's First Friday Art Walk showcases new exhibits by regional artists Dining Restaurant Inspections: March 29 Basque-inspired cuisine at Eleven in Ashland Parsing the meaning behind wine medals and scores Restaurant Inspections: Sunday, March 22 Jasmine Thai Cuisine Tempo Videos Classifieds Jobs Autos Real Estate FEATURED » Obits Blogs TV Listings Movie Listings Oregon Outdoors Oregon Healthy Living Magazines/Special Sections Business Services NEWS NOW Police investigate mini-spree of White City car break-ins ... Oregon Attorney General sues White City company at center of alleged subscription scam ... Siskiyou County man arrested near Talent on kidnapping charges ... Police investigate mini-spree of White City car break-ins ... Oregon Attorney General sues White City company at center of alleged subscription scam ... Siskiyou County man arrested near Talent on kidnapping charges ... THEATER REVIEW Review: From past into present in OSF's 'Long Day's Journey' Comment By Bill Varble for the Mail Tribune MailTribune.com By Bill Varble for the Mail Tribune Posted Mar. 29, 2015 at 8:38 PM Updated Mar 29, 2015 at 8:39 PM By Bill Varble for the Mail Tribune Posted Mar. 29, 2015 at 8:38 PM Updated Mar 29, 2015 at 8:39 PM » Social News Putting messed-up families on the stage has worked for playwrights from Sophocles to Shakespeare to Sam Shepard, but few if any family tragedies have been packed with more power and pathos than Eugene O'Neill's “Long Day's Journey Into Night.” Perhaps that's because the play so closely reflects its author's life, and he poured a freakish amount of juice into it. The scintillating new production of O'Neill's masterpiece that opened Sunday in the Oregon Shakespeare Festival's intimate Thomas Theatre testifies to the play's ongoing power to move audiences. Tautly directed by Christopher Liam Moore, the nearly four-hour production zips by with the feel of the right actors in the right play at the right time. But then, with its themes of family, loneliness, guilt, blame and addiction, “Long Day's Journey” always feels timely. Time, indeed, is almost a character in the play. The action unfolds over one long, foggy August day in 1912 at the Tyrone family's summer cottage in Connecticut, rendered by set designer Christopher Acebo with a living room table and chairs and a great staircase through part of which a tree grows. As the action unfolds, every problem these troubled characters face has its roots in a past whose power stretches inexorably forward as if decreed by some modern oracle at Delphi. James Tyrone's (Michael Winters) miserliness stems from the grinding poverty of an Irish immigrant family, which left him with a morbid fear of the poorhouse even though he's been a commercially successful actor/producer for years. Mary Cavan Tyrone's (Judith-Marie Bergan) drug addiction began when a cheap doctor hired by skinflint James gave her morphine when she had a painful delivery of the couple's younger son, Edmond. The fog outside is an analogue of Mary's increasing inner fog. Elder son Jamie (Jonathan Haugen) and younger son (by 10 years) Edmond (Danforth Comins) were scarred by their father's alcoholism, their mother's addiction, both parents' loss of their dreams and a rootless life in cheap hotels on the melodrama circuit, where James (like O'Neill's father), was forever stuck in an artless production of “The Count of Monte Cristo” that destroyed him artistically but was too profitable to quit. “Long Day's Journey” is devoid of conventional plot, moving from morning to late at night through a sequence of increasingly harrowing scenes that often pit two characters against each other, with the duos constantly changing. The focus is not on what happens next but on the revelation of character through the yin and yang of the love-hate games these people play. Mary, who is relapsing into addiction after a rehab stint, gets the lines through which O'Neill is speaking to us, or to himself. “None of us can help the things life does to us,” she says. “The past is always present,” she says. “Why do I feel so lonely?” she asks. It is a luminous performance by Bergan as the tortured Mary, who in spite of everything makes us believe she still loves her drunken, penny-pinching husband and wastrel sons, even as she drifts away into a drugged fog. Winters' James is a man burdened with the knowledge that he squandered his talent and is left with two hard-drinking failures that disrespect him and a wife who is drifting away. He is wrong about everything, and he goes around turning the lights out to save pennies, and yet he wins our sympathy. Haugen and Comins deliver convincing performances as the scarred spawn of this ill-fated match. Cynical, alcoholic Jamie introduced his younger brother to the ways of drinking and whoring. Haugen convincingly loves and hates his younger brother at the same time as he blames his parents for his life. Comins' Edmond is a disillusioned romantic and the closest thing to a point of view character in the play. He's been diagnosed with consumption (tuberculosis) and faces a sanitorium or possible death. His perceptions are clearer than the others'. In the end there is overarching loneliness. These people want to reach out but don't know how, and when they do, there's nobody there. In a 75-year-old play, this is oddly in tune with some recent research on the nature of addiction. “Long Day's Journey” brims with guilt and rage in the present and the impacted ghosts of a family's past. Under Moore's direction, the final impression is tragic but not hopeless. O'Neill wrote these lorn characters with sweat and blood but also love, and Moore and company in the end leave us with a glimpse of the possibility of forgiveness. Reach freelance writer Bill Varble at [email protected]. By Bill Varble for the Mail Tribune MailTribune.com By Bill Varble for the Mail Tribune Posted Mar. 29, 2015 at 8:38 PM Updated Mar 29, 2015 at 8:39 PM » Comment or view comments Reader Reaction » STAY INFORMED Email NewsLetter Sign Up Today Sign up for our newsletter and have the top headlines from your community delivered right to your inbox. calendar Connect with MailTribune.com Facebook Twitter RSS Back to top Reader Services Reader Services Home Subscriptions Subscriber controls Contact us Submissions Photos Events Letters to the editor Corrections Announcements Obituaries Story ideas Since you asked Alerts Email Alerts RSS Feeds Text Alerts Advertise Media Kit Home Products and services Ad rates Advertising contacts Mail Tribune Daily Tidings The Nickel Shop Our Valley Blogs Stay Informed Email newsletter Sign Up Today Sign up for our newsletter and have the top headlines from your community delivered right to your inbox. Your privacy is important, read our privacy policy. © Copyright 2015 Local Media Group, Inc. All Rights Reserved. Privacy Policy | Terms of Service | Local Media Group Publications Original content available for non-commercial use under a Creative Commons license, except where noted. MailTribune.com | P.O. Box 1108, Medford, OR 97501