Long Day's Journey Into Night (BAM)

See it if you're an O'Neill fan, enjoy great acting, for a clear understanding of a classic play, feel the New England setting & the caustic wit

Don't see it if 3 hrs, 20 mins seems too long for you, O'Neill bores you, hopelessness upsets you, don't like a lot of repetition for character development

See it if great acting the whole cast, funny at part and touching story of a family with problems.

Don't see it if At time very sad about drinking, drug addicts. 3 1/2 hours long.

Also BAM has new balcony seat that are higher with a stepping up step to get to seat. They are not comfortable seat to me.... Read more Read less

See it if you’ll see big deal actors in a good, not great show; living w/ addiction, lost religious faith, troubled family

Don't see it if you hope it defies expectations. Uniformly excellent cast makes it look effortless—I wish I saw them pull off a riskier, less familiar story

Also Wasn’t moved, but wasn’t bored either. The show thankfully avoids reducing the characters to painfully obnoxious personalities (except maybe the mother). Manning really typifies how daily contact w/ addicts is insufferable. Held my full attention even though I don’t relate to this family’s many issues.

The prod design is counterproductive: set in a turn of the century sunroom in good condition w/ a floor to ceiling library; costumes in coordinated cream & white as if dressed for Ascot. So when the family deplores their uncomfortable house-not-a-home, embarrassing/shabby clothes, and James’ debilitating stinginess, it’s legit confusing & undermines what would otherwise be the characters’ profound self-awareness revealed by the dialogue.

But even if not electrifying, the quality of the play, conflict, & cast are engaging enough. The worst I can say about LDJIN is that it’s an unsurprisingly professional production—aka good by normal standards.... Read more Read less

See it if Chance to see a well-acted version of this play, this time it seems as if each family member are equally matched.

Don't see it if Not an O'Neill fan. Nothing really happens but that's the play itself, not the production.

See it if One of the great plays of American theater performed by a company of exemplary British actors. Not to be missed.

Don't see it if You want happy, comedy, music , or dance. ..and can't concentrate for over 3 hours.

See it if You've never seen this play. An absolute masterpiece of American theater very well-executed by this cast (especially Manville [& Irons])

Don't see it if Emotionally devastating family dramas aren't your jam.

See it if Class A actors including Irons and Manville. Great theater/venue. Interesting and ambitious, although potentially distracting, set design.

Don't see it if No reason not to, unless not an O'Neill fan. If Lange and Byrne production was enough.

See it if you enjoy Eugene O'Neill's dark sense of writing and/or technically difficult, wordy acting.

Don't see it if you don't like 3+ hour domestic dramas.

Also yet ANOTHER London transfer (Yerma, Harry Potter, Angels in America, Travesties) that we are unworthy of. Get yourselves in those seats. I had the pleasure of sitting in the onstage cushion seats: an experience I highly recommend if it's an option for you.... Read more Read less

See it if you love O'Neill. It is worth seeing for the performances & bc it is an amazing work of american theater. There are extraordinary moments.

Don't see it if it's a very long, emotionally difficult family drama about addiction and other demons. Bits of humor seem forced; the overlapping line

Also readings are annoying and unnecessary. The set is beautiful but utterly inapt for the play. The production doesn't quite work.... Read more Read less

See it if You are interested in a rather conventional staging of the epic O'Neill play about his dysfunctional family. Jeremy Irons is very good.

Don't see it if You are looking for a new angle to the family drama. Bitterness and accusations abound and only rarely are there glimpses of responsibility

See it if You want to be completely absorbed into a tragic family drama by a set of truly outstanding actors. Breathtaking

Don't see it if You saw some legendary production of LDJiN that can never be replicated. Or you can’t physically sit 3.5 hours. Although BAM seats are comfy

Also The first act is (deliberately) emotionally painful. We got drinks at the bar and settled back into BAM’s seating for more, only to be transported by the second act. Matthew Beard is a perfect Edmund, the whole cast outstanding, the writing transcendent... Read more Read less

See it if you are a fan of O’Neill or any of the outstanding actors in the cast. The heartbreak of the family drama is well delivered.

Don't see it if you are not a fan of O’Neill, don’t like family dramas, or can’t sit through 3.5 hours of morbid dialogue between the family members.

Also I thought it was a classic well worth checking out with Jeremy Irons and Leslie Manville. Also if you can endure sitting on the floor on a back supported cushion, $25 ticket “on stage” is worth the experience. It’s like watching the show play out in your large living room.... Read more Read less

See it if Lesley Manville as Mary Tyrone, the addicted wife of whiskey-soused James (Jeremy Irons) is impeccable. The best of O'Neill.

Don't see it if You can't hear well; Irons keeps turning his back to the audience. Good blocking, bad projection. Play is long and depressing.

See it if With such talented cast, this production should be more engaging & better. Besides a fun house of accents, the cast feels oddly disjointed.

Don't see it if At times, Irons and Mansville come across as Lou Grant & Sue Ann Nivens after 35 years of marriage. The stand-out is the great Rory Keenan.

See it if This play is an extraordinary intense experience delivered by four great actors who are able to portray the complex, three dimensional

Don't see it if you are not a fan of Eugene O'nell

Also characters to perfection.

See it if you appreciate O'neill's morbid take on love, life, family, dreams, despair and disillusionment, delivered on stage by an outstanding cast.

Don't see it if you need faster pacing, have a hard time understanding Jeremy Iron's mumbling of lines, or just not ready to take a hard punch to the gut.

See it if you want to see an exceptionally well done production (and see how the opioid epidemic hasn't changed much!).

Don't see it if you are a set purist - it isn't period accurate and if you are incapable of sitting fro long periods of time...

See it if you want to see a revival of a classic with tremendous acting.

Don't see it if you can not concentrate and have a low attention span.

See it if you want to see one of the greatest American plays with a masterful cast.

Don't see it if you want something less absorbing and not too long (almost 3 hours)

See it if you want to see Iron

Don't see it if you like shot plays

See it if Linear drama by a great playwright .Classic plays

Don't see it if Only interested in fluff

See it if You’re interested in O’Neil’s book

Don't see it if You don’t like depressing story or long dialogues

Also The acting is very good, but these family members are a little detached, I guess that’s the book. The ending makes me feel hopeless... Read more Read less

See it if You want to see a respectable production of one the landmarks of American drama.

Don't see it if You need to see the definitive production of this play. You want even performances all around.

Also While not a great production, I thought the review was far off the mark. First of all, I didn't think it was rushed at all. And the stylized oversized set, criticized widely, was perfect for the amorphous space of the Harvey.
While the acting was uneven (Tyrone believable but not compelling. Jamie too contemporary, Edmund better, but what the hell was that Bronx accent about?) And Mary.
Actually Manville was quite strong. I don't think I have ever sympathized with Mary so strongly. I was actually crying at points.
But the pacing was all off. She was so far gone right from the get go, that it had no where to go. And thus, the final "mad" scene fell flat, because she really wasn't any more gone than she had been in the rest of the play.
From looking at the consistently strong reviews this production got in England, I am assuming that it has been morphing on its own, and needs the director to come back and do some tuning.... Read more Read less

See it if you want to see one of the cornerstones of red-meat American theater.

Don't see it if O'Neill's flaws as a playwright deter you more than his strengths appeal to you.

Also This is the 1st time I've seen this play, so I have no basis of comparison with either the movie or other productions. I have read it, though. It's long, slow, repetitive, but it's dramatic, full of internal & external conflict, & equal-to- if not bigger-than-life characters. O'Neill may meander, but I always have a clear sense he's going somewhere with a payoff (which I like). It's an ensemble play, but unlike so many modern ensemble plays, it has leading characters, not just first among equals. Unfortunately, sitting in the balcony at BAM is an uncomfortable experience. I heard Irons & Manville well enough, but the other actors not so well.... Read more Read less

See it if You want to see this classic play, performed amazingly by a strong troupe of actors & like plays, that don’t seem staged but really real.

Don't see it if You want to see something happy or if conversations on addiction or a child’s death are triggers for you.

Also As others have noted the staging of this play, as if you are looking through at a glasshouse and the crumbling family within in it were perfectly done.... Read more Read less