Long Day’s Journey Into Night at Wyndham’s Theatre

Eugene O'Neil plays have been absent from London theatres for a few years and, remarkably, it had been twelve years since I last saw Long Day's Journey into Night. I was keen to see is again.

It helped that this production stared Brian Cox, best known to me for his role as a KGB agent in the two RED films.

All that meant that I was happy to pay £15 for seat A13 in the Grand Circle, which is the third level up.

The play follows the Tyrone family through one summer's day in their seaside home. The father is a touring actor so this is their summer home only. The action, such as it, takes place in one room with the four family members and a maid coming and going throughout the day. It is a play of dialogue and through that dialogue we discover more about the family, particularly their weaknesses.

It is hard to say more without dropping spoilers but it is perhaps not a surprise that heavy drinking and womanising feature.

I loved the set (but forgot to take a photograph) as it was very sparse, little more than a table and a few chairs. That gave more space to the dialogue and also may have been a hint towards the father's miserliness (a trait he explained during the day).

At one level, nothing really happens and the day ends as it began and all that has changed is that we know a lot more about that family. What does happen is all in the words and these are Tony Award and Pulitzer Prize winning words. The play gripped with ferocity and held me tightly for three hours.

This sort of play is certainly not everyone's cup of tea, and I do not think that the school party behind me were that impressed, but it most assuredly is mine. I loved it and everyone in it.