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Addiction Performance Project

Dramatic Reading of Long Day's Journey Into Night, by Eugene O'neill

Directed by Bryan Doerries

The Addiction Performance Project presents dramatic readings of Act Three of Eugene O'Neill's Long Day's Journey into Night as a catalyst for town hall discussions about substance abuse and addiction as they affect individuals, families, caregivers, and communities. This unique participatory event is intended to break down the stigma associated with addiction and promote healthy dialogue among diverse communities - public and professional - fostering compassion, cooperation, understanding, and positive action. The Addiction Performance Project was originally developed with support from the National Institute on Drug Abuse.

Alex Morf, Gordon Clapp, Kathryn Erbe, and Marjolaine Goldsmith perform scenes from Long Day's Journey into Night

About the play

  • Long Day's Journey Into Night by Eugene O'neill

    Eugene O'Neill's Long Day's Journey into Night depicts the struggles of Mary Tyrone, a woman who abuses prescription painkillers and relapses into full-blown morphine addiction. It is also the story of how Mary's addiction rips her family apart, as her morphine use slowly becomes apparent to her husband and two sons. It is widely believed that Long Day's Journey into Night is an autobiographical play, and that the troubled characters in it are based on members of O'Neill's own family, including his mother, Ella, who struggled with morphine addiction for most of her life. In his dedication of the play to his wife Carlotta, O'Neill states that it is a "play of old sorrow, written in tears and blood," and that he wrote it "with deep pity and understanding and forgiveness for all the four haunted Tyrones." O'Neill wrote the play for personal reasons, and the Addiction Performance Project present the plays to diverse audiences to elicit personal responses and candid discussion about addiction.

Addiction Performance Project Highlights

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Addiction Performance Project

National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA) Short Documentary

Washington, DC / 2011

Addiction Performance Project Phoenix Az
Addiction Performance Project

Actors perform for medical students and faculty

University of Arizona College of Medicine, Phoenix, AZ / 2011

Addiction Performance Project Fort Rucker Al
Addiction Performance Project

Bryan Doerries, Anthony Edwards, Mare Winningham, and Marjolaine Goldsmith perform scenes from Long Day's Journey into Night

Fort Rucker, AL / 2016

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