Invitation Only
Addiction Performance Project
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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 guided audience discussions about substance abuse and addiction as they affect individuals, families, caregivers, and communities. O’Neill’s play depicts the struggles of Mary Tyrone, a woman who abuses prescription painkillers and relapses into full-blown morphine addiction, and the impact this has on her family. 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.
Featuring performances by Kathryn Erbe (Law & Order: Criminal Intent, Oz), Jumaane Williams (New York City Public Advocate), Marjolaine Goldsmith (Company Manager, Theater of War Productions), and Anthony Edwards (ER, Top Gun).
Adapted, directed, and facilitated
by Bryan Doerries.
About the play
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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, who struggle with alcohol abuse and addiction. 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.
Cast Members
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Amy Ryan
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Jumaane Williams
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Anthony Edwards
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Marjolaine Goldsmith
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This free, public event featured a live, dramatic reading of the “Patient Griselda” story from Boccaccio's Decameron by Jesse Eisenberg (The Social Network, Fleishman is in Trouble), Maev Beaty (Beau is Afraid, Mouthpiece), and Araya Mengesha (Tiny Pretty Things, Nobody). Then, in response, Margaret Atwood performed “Impatient Grisleda,” a story that is narrated to a group of humans in quarantine by an alien that looks like an octopus. The readings of both texts was followed by immediate responses by community panelists and culminated in a guided audience discussion, facilitated by Bryan Doerries (Artistic Director, Theater of War Productions).
Co-presented by Theater of War Productions and Toronto International Festival of Authors.
This hybrid presentation took place in person at the Toronto Harbourfront Centre Theatre and on Zoom Webinar on September 30, 2023.