Playhouse on Park, West Hartford, CT
through March 5, 2017
by Stuart W. Gamble
Eugene O’Neill, one of the finest dramatists of the 20th
century, unfortunately seems to be underappreciated now in the 21st one. Apart
from his greatest work, Long Days Journey into Night, few of his plays are
regularly produced. This is unfortunate, because his last play, A Moon for the
Misbegotten, is a show full of top talent, monumental drama, and most
surprisingly, truly timeless comedy.
Set on a rock-strewn farm in rural Connecticut during the
early 1930’s, the story opens with Josie Hogan (Elise Hudson) a lanky,
tough-talking farm woman helping her younger brother Mike Hogan (Michael
Hinton) escape from the control of their “tyrannical” father. Phil Hogan (Conan
McCarty), the father, is a scrappy Irish immigrant who knows the land and his
whisky (both bonded and moonshine). The Hogan’s precarious existence as tenant
farmers is further complicated by conflict with their wealthy neighbor T.
Stedman Harder (Thomas Daniels) whose ice pond is perpetually invaded by the
Hogan’s hogs. The play’s major catalyst comes with the arrival of James Tyrone
Jr. (Anthony Marble), their landlord who threatens to sell the home to Harder.
Plot complications multiply bringing the play to a not quite happy, yet perhaps
melancholic close.
Although the Hogans face opposition from the outside world,
it is the conflict between Josie and her father Phil that stirs our emotions
and most rewardingly tickles our funny bones. Elise Hudson is marvelous as
Josie. She calls herself “an ugly, overgrown woman,” The audience sees a
strong-willed, independent woman who could oppose any male, including her
father. Conan McCarty’s Phil Hogan is a wily and blustery. The love-hate
relationship between these two is evident as they endearingly refer to each
other with derogatory descriptions. The two both evoke the strong, spirited
existence of people who till the land on a back-breaking daily existence.
The evening’s dramatic highlight is provided by Anthony
Marble’s James Tyrone Jr. Marble’s theatrical, ne’er do well man of the world
who breaks down in the play’s climactic third act, is truly touching. Clutching
to Hudson’s tender yet grounded Earth-Mother, Marble literally lays to rest
after an evening of binge-drinking.
Apart from the splendid cast, under Joseph Discher’s
direction, the show’s other feats demand attention. Emily Nichols’ simple, yet
timely farmhouse set evokes its time and place. Collette Benoit’s costumes
further reflect the sepia-toned 1930’s. Both Joel Abbot’s sound design filled
with Irish fiddle music and lighting designer Christopher Bell’s soft, romantic
blue moonlight and blazingly hot sunshine further enhances the play’s contrasting
long night’s journey into day.
At three hours, this play is well worth time spent at
Playhouse due to its beautiful performances and the richly poetic language that
is Eugene O’Neill’s legacy to the American Theatre.
