Days Without End

Days Without End (1934), a modern miracle play by Eugene O'Neill. [ Henry Miller Theatre, 57 perf.] John Loving is two men simultaneously: John (Earle Larimore), his generous, idealistic half, and Loving (Stanley Ridges), his baser self. Embittered at life, he has abandoned religion and made a god of love. But he has not been faithful even to his new deity. Loving decides to write a book about his experiences and tells his story to a priest (Robert Loraine) and his wife, Elsa (Selena Royle). The shock of hearing her husband's history makes Elsa deathly ill. Mortified, John prostrates himself before the cross and re‐embraces Catholicism; John's reaffirmation kills Loving and saves his wife. Although highly praised by the Catholic press, most other American critics treated the Theatre Guild production harshly, seeing it largely as a failed literary exercise rather than a vital drama. Curiously, the play was accorded a better reception the following year when it opened in London. The play's American failure may have played some part in the withdrawal of O'Neill, heretofore prolific, from the stage. He did not return to Broadway until twelve years later with The Iceman Cometh, though he continued to write.