Beyond the Horizon

Graham Luker and Mike Terrana (Brothers Andrew & Robert Mayo) with Asia Ward (Ruth Atkins) in SIU Theater’s production of “Beyond the Horizon.” (Photo by Steve Buhman)

November 30, 2015

‘Beyond the Horizon’ comes to McLeod Theater

Eugene O’Neill’s powerful drama, “Beyond the Horizon,” comes to the McLeod Theater Dec. 10-13. 

Performances begin at 7:30 p.m. except for Sunday, when the performance begins at 2 p.m. Tickets for the play are $18, $6 for students. Get them in advance in person at the McLeod Theater or SIU Arena box offices, by phone at 618/453-6000 or online. 

“Beyond the Horizon” is an insightful and emotional drama about the effects of lost dreams. The story centers on two brothers who change destinies when they discover they are in love with the same girl. Spanning 12 years, the play charts the shifts in fortune that result from the choices made by the characters in this love triangle.  

The play first met the stage in 1920, and won the first of four Pulitzer Prize awards for Best Drama for O’Neill. O’Neill also won the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1936. 

Preceding Sunday’s performance is a free, pre-show lecture by the director, graduate student Nich Radcliffe. Radcliffe will discuss O’Neill’s autobiography and connection to his plays. The lecture is in the College of Mass Communication and Media Arts Dean’s Conference Room, adjacent to the McLeod Theater lobby. 

This Department of Theater production features Graham Luker and Mike Terrana as the destiny-crossed brothers, Andrew and Robert Mayo. Asia Ward plays Ruth, the girl torn between two loves. Matt Wickey and Katelin Coursey play James and Kate Mayo, the brothers’ parents. Jasmine Wiley plays Mrs. Atkins, Ruth’s mother. Hanna Clark makes a cameo appearance as the Mayo’s little girl, Mary, with Mark Young playing sea adventurer, Captain Dick Scott, Adrian Rochelle as Ben, hand at the family farm, and K.K. Collins as Doctor Fawcett, caring for the dying Robert.