LONG DAY'S JOURNEY INTO NIGHT Comes To Portland, Begins 8/13

Long Day's Journey Into Night is bound to be the "hot ticket" in the Pacific Northwest this year. This world-class co-production between Portland's Artists Repertory Theatre and Australia's Sydney Theatre Company (STC) stars Oregonians William Hurt and Todd Van Voris, as well as three Australian actors including the legendary Australian actress Robyn Nevin, Luke Mullins and Emily Russell. The play is directed by Andrew Upton who, together with his wife, actress Cate Blanchett, is STC's Co-Artistic Director. Long Day's Journey Into Night begins June 29, 2010 in Sydney, Australia and August 13, 2010 in Portland, Oregon.

The genesis for this production came last Spring as a result of discussions between Andrew Upton and William Hurt about their shared passion for this great American classic. Since playing the role of Edmund Tyrone in 1975 at Oregon Shakespeare Festival, Hurt has avidly hoped to be cast as the patriarch James Tyrone in Long Day's Journey Into Night. As a longtime friend and collaborator of Artists Rep's Artistic Director Allen Nause, Hurt contacted Nause about co-producing this play with the Australian company. Nause was ecstatic about the opportunity.

"The production of Long Day's Journey Into Night is an exceptional, unusual opportunity for regional audiences to see a Broadway-caliber theatrical masterpiece such as this," said Nause. "This is one of the most difficult and complex plays ever written and may well be the most challenging stage role of my friend William's career."

One of the most powerful and gut-wrenching dramas in American literature, Long Day's Journey Into Night is EuGene O'Neill's masterpiece. The autobiographical story is told with such searing honesty that he stipulated it was not to be published or produced until 25 years after his death. Audiences will be enraptured by the emotional complexity of the Tyrone family - gripped by addiction, shattered by the past, and paralyzed by the prospect of the future.

The cast of Long Day's Journey Into Night is appearing with the permission of Actor's Equity Association and the Media, Entertainment, and Arts Alliance pursuant to an exchange program between the two unions.

The 2010/11 Artists Repertory Theatre season is presented by U.S. Bank. The 2010/11 radio sponsor is KINK.FM. Long Day's Journey Into Night is supported by U.S. Bank and individual producers Ronni Lacroute and Wayne and Sandy Ericksen. Media Sponsors for Long Day's Journey Into Night are The Oregonian, Oregon Public Broadcasting and OregonLive.

Long Day's Journey Into Night
By EuGene O'Neill

Director Andrew Upton
Set Design: Michael Scott Mitchell
Costume Design: Tess Schofield
Lighting Design: Nick Schlieper
Sound Design: Max Lyandvert

With William Hurt, Luke Mullins, Robyn Nevin, Emily Russell and Todd Van Voris.

THE PLAYWRIGHT
Eugene O' Neill (1888-1953) was among the first playwrights to introduce realism into American drama, a technique usually associated with the likes of Chekhov, Ibsen and Strindberg. His plays were known to involve some degree of tragedy and personal pessimism, always featuring edgy characters struggling to fulfill their dreams while living outside mainstream society.

As a young adult, O'Neill suffered from alcoholism and depression and began writing and traveling extensively as a means of escape. In 1912, after six months spent in a sanatorium recovering from tuberculosis, he decided to devote himself full time to writing plays. His major works include Beyond The Horizon - for which he was awarded his first Pulitzer Prize - The Emperor Jones, Anna Christie (Pulitzer Prize 1922), Strange Interlude (Pulitzer Prize 1928), Desire Under the Elms, Mourning Becomes Electra and Ah, Wilderness! - his only well-known comedy. In 1936 he received the Nobel Prize for Literature. After a 10-year pause, O'Neill's now-renowned play The Iceman Cometh was produced in 1946. The following year's A Moon for the Misbegotten failed, and did not gain recognition as being among his best works until decades later.

After suffering from multiple health problems (including depression and alcoholism) over many years O'Neill died in Boston, on Nov. 27, 1953, at the age of 65.

THE DIRECTOR
Andrew Upton is currently the Co-Artistic Director and Co-CEO of the Sydney Theatre Company (STC), with Cate Blanchett.

In 2006, Upton made his directorial debut for the theater with his translation of Dissident, Goes Without Saying for Wharf 2Loud. He went on direct David Mamet's Reunion for STC later that year and in 2007 directed the production Ruby Moon. In 2010, he directs William Hurt and Robyn Nevin in EuGene O'Neill's Long Days Journey Into Night as part of STC's Main Stage season.

Uptons's most recent adaptation of Mikhail Bulgakov's The White Guard is currently being presented at the National Theatre in London. His adaptation of Maxim Gorky's Philistines also received great critical acclaim at the National in 2007. His original play, Riflemind, directed by Phillip Seymour Hoffman and starring Hugo Weaving, was staged as part of STC's 2007 season. Riflemind also had a London season for The Ambassador Theatre Group in late 2008.

Upton's first adaptation for STC was Cyrano de Bergerac which debuted in 1999 and was reprised at the Melbourne Theatre Company, starring David Wenham, in 2005. Upton's adaptation of Don Juan was produced by STC in 2001. His third major adaptation, Hedda Gabler, was staged by the STC in 2004 and toured to New York for an exclusive season at the Brooklyn Academy Of Music in early 2006. His adaptation of The Cherry Orchard was directed by Howard Davies for the STC in 2005. Upton's original play Hanging Man was staged by the STC in its 2002 season.

In late 2007, Upton adapted the Luigi Pirandello play Right You Are (If You Think You Are), which was staged by Francesco Vezzoli at the Guggenheim Museum in New York for a one off performance. In 2008 he wrote the libretto to Alan John's opera Through the Looking Glass (Malthouse Theatre & Victorian Opera) which won best New Operatic Work at the 2008 Green Room Awards.

CAST BIOS
William Hurt (James Tyrone) has appeared on stage with Artists Rep twice in the past, during the 2003/04 season in Drawer Boy and again during the 2006/07 season in Vanya. Hurt played the role of Edmund, the youngest son, in Oregon Shakespeare Festival's 1975 production of Long Day's Journey Into Night. Though his roots are on stage, Hurt is best known for his numerous film roles. He won the Academy Award for his role in 1985's Kiss of the Spider Woman and was also nominated for Children of a Lesser God, Broadcast News, and A History of Violence. He recently released the much-anticipated film, The Yellow Handkerchief. He has also been featured in Into the Wild and Vantage Point. Hurt will next be seen in Ridley Scott's Robin Hood film with Russell Crowe and Cate Blanchett.

Robyn Nevin (Mary Cavan Tyrone) is one of the most respected figures in Australian theater. She served as Artistic Director of Sydney Theatre Company for eight years, has dozens of credits with many Australian theater companies as both actor and director, and was made a Member of the Order of Australia for Services to the Performing Arts in 1981. Her awards include: Australian Creative Artists' Fellowship, Green Room Award for Best Actress for August: Osage County, Helpmann Award for Best Actress for The Women of Troy, Sydney Critics' Circle Award for Best Actress for Diving For Pearls, Sydney Critics' Circle Award for Outstanding Achievement in the Theatre, Sidney Myer Performing Arts Award, Logie, Penguin and Sammy Awards for Best Actress for Water Under the Bridge, 1995 Matilda Award for Contribution to Queensland Theatre. Her film credits include The Matrix Reloaded, The Matrix Revolutions, The Castle, Emerald City, Careful He Might Hear You. Television credits include The Dismissal, A Toast to Melba, Water Under the Bridge, Halifax f.p.

Todd Van Voris (James "Jamie" Tyrone, Jr.) is a resident company member at Artists Rep and has appeared as Otto Sylvus in Design for Living, Joe Foster in Becky's New Car and Nicholas/Grandma in Holidazed, and in past seasons as The Nasty Interesting Man in Eurydice, Ivan in The Seafarer, Andrey in Three Sisters, Giles Mace in House and Garden, Orson Welles in Orson's Shadow, Larry in Inspecting Carol, Trigorin in The Seagull, Felix in Humble Boy. Van Voris has also worked in Portland at Imago Theatre, Portland Center Stage, Lakewood Theatre, Profile Theatre, Theatre Vertigo, Quintessence, and Backstage Theatre (Breckenridge, CO), H.E.R.E. and at the Ontological/Hysteric Theatre (NYC). Van Voris attended NYU where he studied acting at Playwrights Horizons Theatre School.

Luke Mullins (Edmund Tyrone) was a member of Sydney Theatre Company's resident Acting Company from 2007-2009. He has received the George Fairfax Memorial Award. His credits with STC include The War of the Roses, Gallipoli, The Serpent's Teeth, Tales From The Vienna Woods, The Season at Sarsaparilla. He has extensive stage credits appearing in productions for Melbourne Theatre Company, Malthouse Theatre, Stuck Pigs Squealing, Little Death/ Theatreworks/Griffin Stablemates, Theatreworks/God Be in My Mouth: Grace, Liminal, Victorian Trades Hall, Uncle Semolina and Friends, Original Voices, Wrecked all Prods. He has also worked in film and TV.

THE PRODUCERS
Known as the premier theater company in Australia, Sydney Theatre Company has been a major force in Australian drama since 1978. The company presents an annual program at its home base, The Wharf , the nearby Sydney Theatre (which STC also manages), and as the resident theatre company of Sydney Opera House. Current Artistic Directors Cate Blanchett and Andrew Upton joined the company in 2008. The company actively fosters collaborations with International Artists and companies. Renowned artists Liv Ullmann, Steven Soderbergh, Michael Blakemore, Max Stafford-Clark, Declan Donnellan and Philip Seymour Hoffman have directed productions for STC in recent years, and in 2010 Tamás Ascher will direct for the Company. In addition to bringing productions to various locations in Europe and New Zealand, Sydney Theatre Company productions have also toured to the United States: in recent years the Company has presented three productions at the Brooklyn Academy Of Music in New York City - The White Devil (2001); Hedda Gabler (2006); A Streetcar Named Desire (2009) which also toured to Washington D.C.'s Kennedy Center.

Founded in 1982, Artists Repertory Theatre is the oldest professional theater in Portland. Artists Rep strives to challenge artists and audiences with plays of depth and vibrancy in an intimate setting. Artists Rep explores the strengths, frailties, and diversity of the human condition primarily through regional premieres, commissioned works, and selected classics appropriate to contemporary issues. Producing Artistic Director Allen Nause has been leading the company for 22 years, during which the organization has experienced significant financial and artistic growth. The company produces six to eight productions in two intimate, three-quarter thrust theaters.

Artists Rep's partnership with the STC is consistent with both companies' tradition of actively fostering relationships and collaborations with International Artists and companies. A 1997 tour of Pakistan included an Artists Rep production, which represented the U.S. in an international play festival on human rights. In 2000, Artists Rep participated in the Vietnam America Theatre Exchange, the first-ever reciprocal artistic collaboration between the United States and Vietnam that culminated in a bilingual, bicultural production of A Midsummer Night's Dream and a Vietnamese production of A Glass Menagerie. Additionally, Producing Artistic Director Allen Nause directed All My Sons with the Palestinian National Theater in Jerusalem in 2007.

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