Long Day's Journey into Night review: a 'challenging' play with 'superb' performances
Brian Cox gives a 'magnetic' performance as ageing actor James Tyrone

In the ten years since Brian Cox last appeared on the London stage, he has "supercharged his fame", said Dominic Cavendish in The Telegraph – thanks to his TV role as Logan Roy, the domineering paterfamilias in Succession. It is apt, then, that he has now taken on "one of the mightiest father figures in the 20th-century American canon" – the ageing, bitter actor James Tyrone in Eugene O'Neill's autobiographical masterpiece.
It's a famously long and challenging play, said Nick Curtis in the Evening Standard. But Jeremy Herrin's production is "full of pathos and ruined grandeur", with uniformly superb performances. Cox is "magnetic as Tyrone, volcanic one moment, maudlin the next"; his "bombastic soliloquies" are "compelling".
This play is set over one day in 1912 in a rundown summer home in Connecticut, where James and Mary Tyrone and their two adult sons have convened, said Arifa Akbar in The Guardian. It's a "gruelling" experience, as "the family's points of weakness and pain" are revealed, but it's brought to vivid life by Herrin's "stark" production. Cox is "thrilling", but it's Patricia Clarkson as his "morphine fiend" wife who really shines, with a "true, infuriating, compassionate portrait of an addict". There's strong support from Laurie Kynaston as Edmund, a failed poet with tuberculosis, and Daryl McCormack as Jamie, a failed actor and drunk. "This is the ultimate family reckoning, with some light, but mostly shade."
Subscribe to The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
Alas, the strong performances can't prevent "long-winded confrontations and confessions from slipping into melodrama", as O'Neill "grinds us into submission" over an "achingly slow" evening, said Clive Davis in The Times. The final scene of this "workmanlike" production, where Mary delivers a "crushingly poignant" speech, is desperately moving.
"But it's a long time a-coming." It's a pity this great play wasn't given a more innovative staging, said Andrzej Lukowski in Time Out. While the works of Arthur Miller and Tennessee Williams have been much reinvented recently, O'Neill's seem resistant to change. This is a tender production, but something of "a museum piece".
Wyndham’s Theatre, London WC2 (0344-482 5151). Until 8 June Running time: 3hrs ★★★
Sign up to the Culture & Life newsletter for reviews and recommendations
Sign up for Today's Best Articles in your inbox
A free daily email with the biggest news stories of the day – and the best features from TheWeek.com
-
What are your retirement savings account options?
The explainer The two main types of accounts are 401(k) plans and individual retirement accounts (IRAs)
By Becca Stanek, The Week US
-
7 tranquil hotels worth the trek
The Week Recommends Find serenity off the beaten path
By Catherine Garcia, The Week US
-
'From his election as pope in 2013, Francis sought to reform'
Instant Opinion Opinion, comment and editorials of the day
By Justin Klawans, The Week US
-
Exploring the three great gardens of Japan
The Week Recommends Beautiful gardens are 'the stuff of Japanese landscape legends'
By The Week UK
-
One-pan black chickpeas with baharat and orange recipe
The Week Recommends This one-pan dish offers bold flavours, low effort and minimum clean up
By The Week UK
-
G20: Viola Davis stars in 'ludicrous' but fun action thriller
The Week Recommends The award-winning actress plays the 'swashbuckling American president' in this newly released Prime Video film
By The Week UK
-
6 must-see homes in Boston
Feature Featuring a factory-turned-loft in South Boston and a wraparound roof deck in South End
By The Week US
-
Cartier at the V&A: a 'dazzling' show
The Week Recommends A 'once-in-a-lifetime' display of the French jeweller's 'exquisite' objects
By Irenie Forshaw, The Week UK
-
What is Free Speech?: a 'meticulous' look at the evolution of freedom of expression
The Week Recommends Fara Dabhoiwala provides both history and critique while 'correcting misconceptions'
By The Week UK
-
Rupert Gavin shares his favourite books
The Week Recommends The theatre impresario picks works by Dan Jones, Annie Ernaux and Floella Benjamin
By The Week UK
-
What They Found: Sam Mendes's powerful debut documentary
The Week Recommends The Oscar-winning director's harrowing film features footage and first-hand accounts of the liberation of Bergen-Belsen concentration camp
By The Week UK