Susan Granger’s review of “Moon for the Misbegotten” (2006-2007 season)
Imported directly from London’s Old Vic Theater Company, now under the artistic direction of Kevin Spacey, the current revival of Eugene O’Neill’s final play, “A Moon for the Misbegotten,” is a fascinating revelation of humor and heartache.
Set in 1923 in rural, upstate Connecticut, it’s the story of a pivotal incident in the life of a large, ungainly farm woman, Josie Hogan (Eve Best), who cares for her blustering, Irish immigrant father (Colm Meaney), a tenant farmer on land recently inherited by James Tyrone Jr. (Spacey). For years, brash, bumbling Josie, whose total lack of self-esteem has created a promiscuous reputation as the town tramp, has yearned for Jim Tyrone, an acerbic, alcoholic, “ham” actor eager to get back to the fabled lights of Broadway. And one pathos-filled moonlit night, these two lost, lonely souls find some sort of redemption in each other’s arms.
Two-time Oscar-winner Kevin Spacey exudes just the right amount of ineffable charm to entice Josie yet reveal his character’s inherent despair and weakness for booze, while Irishman Colm Meaney makes the stolid father a less threatening but crafty, old goat.
And while slender, fine-boned Eve Best could never be described as an “overgrown lump” (unlike her larger predecessors Colleen Dewhurst, Cherry Jones and Kate Nelligan), she totally embodies Josie’s brute strength and clumsy frustration. Her plaintive cry, “I love him,” reverberates with total honesty. Best’s performance is, quite simply, luminous and unforgettable.
Completing the cast are Eugene O’Hare, as Josie’s brother who bolts as the story begins, and Billy Carter, as the Hogans’ wealthy, arrogant neighbor. Director Howard Davies wisely condenses the play’s original four rambling acts into two streamlined, fast-paced, ferociously dramatic ones and his impressive production is enhanced by Bob Crowley’s ramshackle shack set.