DIRECTOR
PLAYWRIGHT
A MOON FOR THE MISBEGOTTEN
BY EUGENE O'NEILL
MERRIMACK REP
LOWELL, MA
DIRECTOR'S NOTES
In 1943, Eugene O’Neill looked back twenty years to the end of his brother’s life and began A Moon for the Misbegotten. It would be a sequel to his masterwork, Long Day’s Journey into Night. It would also be his last finished play. Moon is an imagined eulogy for a doomed, alcoholic brother. But it’s also an outpouring of earthy warmth and humor; a story graced by one of modern drama’s most exuberant heroines.
The play takes place on a run-down farm in Connecticut in September, 1923. A young man runs off to make his way in the world. A wily Irish farmer confounds the local millionaire. A world-weary, drunken actor spends a farewell evening with the only woman he loves. A hot day becomes a moonlit night. Then night gives way to dawn.
Through these simple events, O’Neill weaves an enduring comic tragedy. He fills the stage with heartbreak and blarney; the shadow of guilt and the blessing of forgiveness. It’s a remarkable affirmation of life.
5 IRNE Award Nominations, including Best Director, Best Production
& Best Ensemble
REVIEWS
“…Merrimack’s nearly pitch-perfect production strikes a delicate balance between the harsh reality of these character’s lives and the glimmers of hope that continue to flicker in spite of everything…director Edward Morgan has found O’Neill’s funny bone, and with Weiss’s sly performance as Phil, he mines some mischievous joy in the play’s comic scenes…Emphasizing the comedy makes the play’s shift to tragedy even more poignant.”
– Boston Globe
“…a breathtaking new production…The entire production is successful on many levels, but none more so than the way it handles the tug of fate driving the three central characters into the dawn. Through Edward Morgan’s deft direction, a series of subtle, purple-tinged changes in lighting, and a mounting desperation coloring the impassioned exchanges, this Moon shines to the core.”
– Boston Examiner
“…a thoughtful and moody revival…Director Edward Morgan gives us a vintage “Moon,” complete with old-timey sensibility and an appropriately squalid set. Beverly Emmons’ subtle lighting design goes a long way toward setting the mood, as we watch the day turn to night and back to dawn.”
– Boston Herald
“For this Moon not only easily eclipses the ART’s version of some twenty years ago (which featured Kate Nelligan); it also ranks among the best two or three productions of O’Neill I’ve ever seen.”
– The Hub Review
Lights: Beverly Emmons
Costumes: Jeni Schaefer
Set: Bill Clarke
Sound: Michael Boso
