2006-2007 Season: Long Day's Journey Into Night
Jonathan Moscone, Artistic Director of California Shakespeare Theatre (Cal Shakes), helms this production. His productions of Nicholas Nickleby, Twelfth Night, and The Seagull were named among the ten best productions by The San Francisco Chronicle. He is the recipient of Bay Area Critics Circle and Dean Goodman Choice Awards. A native of California, Mr. Moscone earned his MFA in Directing from the Yale School of Drama.
“I am very honored to be working at San Jose Rep,” states Moscone. “[Long Day’s Journey Into Night] is one of those monumental dramas that takes you into the real heart of what family is. It’s an extraordinary landscape of heartache, intense love, regret and dreams. I look forward to investigating it with this wonderful team of actors and designers.”
In the hot summer month of August, in the year 1912, the Tyrone family gathers in their summer home in New London, Connecticut. Long Day’s Journey Into Night marks their extraordinary psychological journey. As the riveting event of the day unfolds, each member of the family battles their own demons, their pasts, and one another in four remarkable personal struggles. Each family member relentlessly attacks and gingerly retreats from one another, attempting to shelter behind the very self-delusions they are trying to escape. This is O’Neill’s most courageous work and one that has made its mark on the landscape of American literature.
Eugene O’Neill called Long Day’s Journey Into Night a play of, “…old sorrow, written in tears and blood.” This journey to the past, filled with memories and grief, enabled O’Neill to “face my dead.” And in this most personal artistic expression, he was able to find courage to write with “deep pity and understanding” and to finally find forgiveness. Through this journey of forgiveness, Eugene O’Neill has left a lasting mark on American Literature and changed the face of American Theatre.