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.