This is a free, community presentation made possible by a
grant from the Town of Nantucket and presented in partnership with Almanack Arts. Seats must be reserved via a free ticket on
this platform, and all ticketholders MUST have checked in and had their tickets
redeemed by 6:50pm the evening of the performance, or said tickets will be
given to those on the waiting list. Tickets only guarantee entry to the
performance you reserve them for. Separate tickets will be issued for each
evening.
(Program runs 2.5 hours each evening):
May 16, 7pm: The Addiction Performance Project
& Dreamland Present: Act 3 of Eugene O’Neill’s Long Day’s Journey Into Night
May 17, 7pm: The Dionysus Project &
Dreamland Present: Scenes from Euripides’ Bacchae
Live Online Streaming Event (for those unable to attend in person)
Theater of War
Productions works with
acclaimed actors to present dramatic readings of seminal texts as a framework for engaging diverse
communities in powerful discussions about pressing issues of public health and
social justice. The company is thrilled be returning to Nantucket with two
projects aimed at generating crucial dialogue about the impact of substance
abuse, addiction, and the opioid epidemic on individuals, families, and
communities.
The
Addiction Performance Project presents dramatic readings of Act 3 from Eugene
O'Neill's Long Day's Journey into Night, a classic American play
that 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.
The
Dionysus Project presents dramatic readings of scenes from Euripides' Bacchae,
an ancient play about the arrival of Dionysus, the god of wine and
intoxication, in Greece and the all-consuming, destructive power of
intoxication.
Featuring
performances by Debra Winger (Terms of Endearment, Rachel Getting Married), Moses Ingram (The Queen's Gambit, Obi-Wan Kenobi), Arliss Howard (Full Metal Jacket, Mank), Marjolaine Goldsmith (Company Manager, Theater of War
Productions), Chris
Henry Coffey (Trust,
Chicago Fire), and Babe
Howard (Lapsis, With/In).
About
the plays:
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 presents the plays for diverse audiences to
elicit personal responses and candid discussion about addiction and its impact
on individuals, families, and communities.
The
Bacchae by
Euripides
First
produced in 405 BC, Euripides' Bacchae tells the ancient story
of the arrival of Dionysus, the god of wine and intoxication, in Greece. When
Dionysus comes to the city of Thebes, he liberates the people from their homes,
sending the citizens - dancing and drinking - into the hills. A young king,
named Pentheus, tries to subdue the revelry and restore order to his city,
waging an all-out war against the god. But when Pentheus first tastes the drug
that has ravaged his city, he too succumbs to its power and is murdered by his
own mother, in a deranged state of intoxication.