Long Days Journey Into Night- Eugene O'Neill

      The Oregon Shakespeare Festival presents many other productions than the Bard's repertoire.  The actors who are members of the company are asked to perform a number of different productions including some of the great writers in American theater.  Nobel Prize winner Eugene O'Neill(1936)  is one of the most prolific playwrights of the 20th century.  His long list of accomplishments includes many well recognized titles such as The Iceman Cometh, Mourning Becomes Electra, and Long Days Journey Into Night(1941).  This last is his most famous, most remembered, most loved of all his works.
       This play has been dissected, analyzed, and discussed since its first showing long after the author's death.   Because of its personal themes, O'Neill requested that it not be released until 25 years after his death.  His widow made the effort to overlook the request, and it was released in 1957.
       Long Days Journey Into Night won the Pulitzer Prize for Literature in 1958.  This largely autobiographical work is one of three works that are based on his life and early years spent with his father, an actor, and his mother, a disillusioned spouse of a professional stage actor who had difficulty providing for his wife and 2 children.  O'Neill himself suffered from alcoholism and depression.  One brother suffered and died from alcoholism.  A son,  Eugene,Jr. died of alcoholism at age 40.  O'Neill's mother was addicted to potassium bromide and was often incapacitated as a result.
      The play examines a day-in-the-life-of the family as it exists during a 24 hour period.  The long play-3 1/2 hours- stretches from early morning to the wee hours of the following day.  Over this period we come to know the cast members: James Tyrone, the father, Mary, the Mother, and the two sons:James, Jr., and Edmund .  The 2 sons are currently living at home: one a failed actor dealing with alcoholism; the younger brother confronting tuberculosis, the Mother recently returned to the house after another stint at a sanatorium for drug addiction; and the Father, clearly an alcoholic.
      All four bring their years to the stage as O'Neill dissects the individual histories, from their earliest years to the most recent.  Nothing is sacred; all faults are subject to discussion.  All shortcomings are exposed to the light of day.  Old slights are recalled, remembered accurately or only slightly.  Past efforts to cope are mentioned, indicating failed attempts that expose the pains of failure.  A constant theme returned to during the play is the immigrant experience of the father. Born in Ireland, he experienced the poverty of the Irish landscape that drove so many to seek a new life in the USA.   Despite the years since his arrival, he can fondly recall some memories of his childhood in Ireland.
      This play was part of O'Neill's effort to bring a new realism to the stage and he set a new standard for drama in the 20th century that left classical themes for modern writing, realism voiced in a vernacular that the audience could readily identify with.   If one has a drop of Irish blood running through his veins, this play will strike a familiar tone.  The movie made shortly after the play's appearance was also well received in 1962, and featured Katherine Hepburn, Ralph Richardson, Jason Robards, and Dean Stockwell.

Letter From Moskova

     The USA received a letter from abroad today.  It was lengthy, but full of insight, well thought out, and concise in its message and content.  It was from an American expat living in Eastern Europe- that part east of Poland and west of the Ural Mountains.  Yes, that area known to today's world as the Russyan Federation, formerly the U.S.S.R.
     Who would want to send such a missive and have it published in a widely read daily?   Whose words would resonate across the American landscape?  Whose input would be considered by editors as pithy and above all:timely.  Yes, your are correct: Edward J. Snowden.
     He takes time to praise recent developments on domestic surveillance carried out by democratic governments, in the US and abroad.   He noted the recent court rulings that found  the N.S.A. eavesdropping on private phone calls illegal.  Congress refused to renew the law giving the N.S.A. another body blow.   It's not easy being a whistle blower.  Perhaps his future will be one of retuning to his home from abroad.
     How would you like to live in MOskova as a "guest" of Vlad "Vova" Putin?   Not many people relish the thought.

Gas;Gas: More Gas

      Some good economic news for Lake Tahoe locals: the price of propane, the source of heat for most lakeside dwellers, has hit new lows.  Today's retail price: $0.37/gal.  That is not a wholesale price nor a futures price, but a price one would expect to pay.  So, what can you do when you are ready to fill up?  Shop around.  Maybe it's time to buy the tank instead of renting the unit.  Get some figures from the usual suspects: Amerigas,etc.  Get them to give ground on price.  Yes, winters have been mild.  Fewer days of heavy consumption of product, fewer demands at pump= lower prices.  Oh, yes, increased production.
     THose "Blue Rhino" tanks:  5 gals. at $19.99= rip off.  New filled tank @$49.95= ripoff.   So, if your gas company wants to gouge you more than $1./gal, think of what he's paying: maybe $0.20/gal and has been for more than a year!
    We'll keep our price watch going as summer develops.

Warriors Win in OT

     It was a close, exciting game: Game 1 of the NBA Finals held in Oakland, CA.  Cleveland's Cavaliers were in town with their GOLIATH-LaBRON James.  LaBron had a great game, scoring 44 points.  The Warriors played their game: stuttering at the start as the Cavs took an early 10 point lead.  After catching up, it was a seesaw battle.  Up by 1, down by two.  UP by 3, tied, down by one.  Then: overtime as 2 Warrior shots went awry.  The Cavs could not find the basket during overtime as the Warriors pulled away and firmed up a comfortable lead to win by 10.
    Could the Warriors sweep?  Possible with game one under their belt.  Next game: Sunday, 6pm.

Greece Action Imminent

      So, down to the wire: President Tsipras is ready to take a deal.  Finally, EU leaders were able to construct a final offer of a take-it-or-leave-it plan.  Details have not been made public-good move.  The last thing Greeks need is a riot of upset citizens.  We'll know more as soon as the Greeks get on board and can formulate talking points to the press.  Hopefully, the terms will include a haircut for bankers who rolled the tiny Mediterranean nation, continually giving them funds despite their obvious inability to ever pay it back.   It's akin to giving credit cards to the poor: it creates a life of endless debt, and the bankers know it.  Damn the greedy bastards.
Stay tuned-more news on the way.

Jack Lew and Greece

     Has the US Treasury just realized there is a problem in Europe and it's called Greece?  Well, it seems so.   Old Jake, or Jack, or Jacob, which ever is your preference, has come out publicly with statements that reflect a concern that Greece' financial problems(read massive debt to Euro zone-northern- banks) might default on same debt.   Hmmm.  Hello? Hello? Anybody home in Obama's White House?  Did Yanis Vavroukakis just call and tell Jake that he should get ready to accept Greece as the US' newest state?  Or that we should get ready for ten millin Greek refugees who will set sail for Manhattan in a week or so?  Why now Mr. Lew?  The election is 18 months away(presidential).  Do tell-we can't wait in limbo much longer.
     The event was a meeting in Dresden, Germany of the Group of 7, the finance group of countries affiliated by agreement(formerly the Group of 8, or G 8: now minus Russya).   Apparently, the US now needs to goad our EU trading partners into a settlement that all can live with.  Good Luck.

Greece: Part II

       Paul Krugman, noted economist and column writer at nytimes.com, weighed in this morning on the Greek fiscal situation.  He compared the ongoing negotiations to the themes in a new book: "The Sleepwalkers".  The author recounts the year 1914 and the lead up to the First World War.  Krugman says that the political leaders then were not negotiating in good faith and waltzing toward conflict that some among them thought would be a "good" thing and "clear" the air, and "clarify" issues.  We know how that turned out.  Krugman, after all his verbosity on the issue, finally puts forth some elements of a plan that could save Greece from the international community's wrath, and salvage the Greek economy from implosion.   He believes, as happened in 1914, the spillover from Greece' exit the Euro Zone would have a ripple effect across the continent.   This is no doubt, true.  Those Northern European thugs should wake up and look in the mirror(eg. FIFA).
      The Greeks are not a soccer team, but a proud nation unwilling to be humiliated any further than they have already after 5 years of austerity that has continued to cause grief among the citizenry.  Enough they say on the streets of Athens.  Is anybody listening?  Or are we going to redo 1914?