Theater review | A fresh, all-female take on the Eugene O'Neill classic "Long Day's Journey Into Night"

"Long Day's Journey Into Night," Eugene O'Neill's painfully honest portrait of his own family, has long been considered his masterpiece. New Amerikan Theatre offers a new take on this American classic in a production, directed by Paul Fleming, in which all the roles are played by women. O'Neill's text has also been shortened and slightly rearranged.

O'Neill purists will probably rebel against these modifications. Those more open to change will find that the women playing the male roles are fully in command of them. They will also see that there's been no loss of emotional power by reducing a very long play to a manageable two and a half hours.

The action takes place in a modestly furnished summerhouse beside the Long Island Sound, one day in 1912. A loving family begins the day, but, as it progresses, the angst of Mr. Tyrone, his wife and their two grown sons reveals itself. Hurtful memories fester; the addictions of the characters are exposed; and their acute need for forgiveness overwhelms them. We ache for this family.

As the father, Timmi Mikkel Harrop captures the patriarch's contradictory character. She successfully portrays him as a niggardly cheapskate and grandiose dreamer. She shows his deep love for his family as well as his fury and disappointment at their weaknesses.

Telisa Steen as Mary, the morphine-addicted mother, has crippled hands that nervously run up and down her clothing. She appears to move in and out of a dope-addled stupor. She babbles, not quite in control of herself, just as the part demands

Haley Wolfe as consumptive Edmund, Kirsten McCory as dissolute James Jr. and Amber Rose Cutlip as Cathleen (the spunky Irish maid) are effective in their roles.

A delightful added attraction to this production is Larissa Brown, who plays a range of Irish melodies on her violin during the two intermissions. The music is in turn haunting and sprightly, thus perfectly suited to the emotional shifts within O'Neill's extraordinary play, and this good production.

Nancy Worssam: nworssam@earthlink.net