Try GOLD - Free
Magnetic Cox gives a towering performance in this O'Neill for the Succession generation
Evening Standard
|April 03, 2024
It's typical of the wry, bloody-minded dedication Brian Cox brings to his craft that, at 77, he's followed the Shakespearean TV role of Logan Roy in Succession with the monolithic family tragedy of 20th-century American theatre.
Eugene O'Neill's autobiographical play sees actor James Tyrone locked in an implacable knot of addiction, regret and resentment with his wife Mary (the mighty Patricia Clarkson) and sons Jamie and Edmund (Daryl McCormack and Laurie Kynaston), It's a long and challenging work, the arc of a single day in 1912 condensed into three-plus hours in a dowdy Connecticut living room.
The characters flick between hatred and love as they play out intricate variations of old recriminations and rapprochements in the first half. They get huge, chewy, self-explanatory monologues in the second.
Despite minor early linefluffs from Cox and Clarkson on opening night, Jeremy Herrin's production is full of pathos and ruined grandeur, with superb performances all round.
This story is from the April 03, 2024 edition of Evening Standard.
Subscribe to Magzter GOLD to access thousands of curated premium stories, and 10,000+ magazines and newspapers.
Already a subscriber? Sign In
MORE STORIES FROM Evening Standard
The London Standard
Why the secret to longevity could be what you put on your plate
DIET IS KEY TO BOOSTING HEALTH, LOWERING IMMUNE AGE AND LIVING LONGER, SAYS NEUROSCIENTIST DR DAVID COX
4 mins
April 23, 2026
The London Standard
Athlete Katarina Johnson-Thompson dines at NAC, drinks at Twenty Two and darts up Ally Pally hill
London is at its most beautiful in the early morning. It makes me feel strangely smug when I get up before everyone else
3 mins
April 23, 2026
The London Standard
First Night Aaron Pierre is electric in full flight —but this bird has other problems
Fine performances from Aaron Pierre, Giles Terera and others illuminate Clint Dyer’s relentless revival of this iconic but problematic countercultural artefact.
2 mins
April 23, 2026
The London Standard
Chelsea crisis costs Rosenior his job but blame belongs elsewhere
Missing out on European football altogether is a real risk that would humiliate the owners.
2 mins
April 23, 2026
The London Standard
Arsenal's new blueprint to win the title
Defeat in Manchester was a hammer blow, but Arteta’s attacking intent means all is not lost in their battle with City.
6 mins
April 23, 2026
The London Standard
Help! I'm addicted to running marathons — they've changed my life
I had just turned 30, started a new job and the weight was beginning to pile on.
4 mins
April 23, 2026
The London Standard
Call of the wild: London's affordable countryside hotspots
Property for £250k, in acre upon acre of nature, is just minutes from central London.
6 mins
April 23, 2026
The London Standard
At the table When life throws youa zigzag, head straight here
Metaphors emerge in the unlikeliest of places.
3 mins
April 23, 2026
The London Standard
Keir Starmer under fire amid Mandelson vetting scandal
“Starmer now seems doomed as Prime Minister, as doomed as it is possible to be while still sitting in No 10,” writes William Hague.
2 mins
April 23, 2026
The London Standard
The art of the house portrait
DOCUMENTING YOUR RENO ON INSTAGRAM IS SO OVER — THIS ANALOGUE TREND WILL LAST FOREVER.
3 mins
April 23, 2026
Listen
Translate
Change font size