A sequel of sorts to the monumental Long Day’s Journey into Night, this was Eugene O’Neill’s final play. A barely concealed portrait of his own family, he stipulated that it should not be performed until 25 years after his death. The final nail in the coffin of the remaining members of the Tyrone family, it is a bravura epitaph to the career of one of America’s greatest playwrights.
Set on a falling to bits farm in Connecticut leased by alcoholic Phil Hogan (David Threlfall) and his daughter Josie (Ruth Wilson), it relates the dying dreams of potential happiness as lies, guilt, swindles and various other elements create a perfect storm, fuelled by industrial quantities of alcohol. Only Josie rejects the bottle, allegedly favouring the alternative addiction of indiscriminate sex with any man in the village.
Childless herself, she has acted as a mother to her Dad as well as her brothers who have abandoned the farm, leaving Hogan & Daughter to their own devices. Harbouring a secret love for their landlord Jim Tyrone (Michael Shannon) – another alcoholic – she is caught up in a scheme to blackmail Jim and thus avoid the sale of the farm to neighbouring millionaire T. Steadman Harder (Akie Kotabe). Nothing goes according to plan.
Jim has a Madonna complex and loves Josie but is so guilt ridden over his own drunken and sexually incontinent lifestyle (he has a thing about chorus girls) that he doesn’t think himself worthy of her; Josie considers herself unattractive and socially inferior to Jim and perpetuates the myth that she has shagged every man in the village to keep him at bay.
Meanwhile, Phil is too marinated in self-pity and bonded bourbon to persuade the two that they are eminently suited to each other; tricks are played, intentions mistaken and opportunities missed in a second act that is elegiacally poignant.
Rebecca Frecknall directs with intelligent intimacy and spare staging, including floating spot lights that circle the stage at eye level. In the process, she restores the reputation of a neglected play in much the same way as she did with Tennessee Williams’ Summer and Smoke. Not quite as revelatory, perhaps, but well worth seeing, particularly for the intricate and heartbreaking performances of Wilson and Shannon.
A MOON FOR THE MISBEGOTTEN: THE ALMEIDA TO AUGUST 16