Eugene O’Neill’s Long Day’s Journey into Night across the North and South America

Abstract

This article is focused on the reconstruction of major stage productions based on Eugene O’Neill’s autobiographical play Long Day’s Journey into Night (1941). The author reviews the American tragedy staged by Latin American directors Jose Quintero (Helen Hayes Theatre, New York, 1956) and Luciano Suardi (Teatro San Martin, Buenos Aires, 2023). Special attention is paid to the first screen version of the play (directed by Sidney Lumet, USA, 1962) and its last staging on Broadway (directed by Jonathan Kent, American Airlines Theatre, New York, 2016). Also under scrutiny are Eugene O’Neill’s private correspondence with the Spanish translator of his plays Leon Mirlas and the negotiations held between director Elia Kazan and playwright’s widow Carlotta Monterey O’Neill. For the first time in the history of Russian theatre studies we see an attempt to identify the causes for a failed U.S. Premiere of O’Neill’s tragedy in 1956 under Kazan’s direction.

Keywords

• eugene o’neill
• american drama
• long day’s journey into night
• elia kazan
• broadway
• stage production
• jose quintero
• jason robards jr.
• luciano suardi
• screen version
• sidney lumet
• katharine hepburn
• jonathan kent
• jessica lange
• history of drama and theatre