''A Moon for the Misbegotten'' is a play in four acts by

Eugene O'Neill Eugene Gladstone O'Neill (October 16, 1888 – November 27, 1953) was an American playwright and Nobel laureate in literature. His poetically titled plays were among the first to introduce into the U.S. the drama techniques of realism, earli ...

. The play is a sequel to O'Neill's '' Long Day's Journey into Night'', with the Jim Tyrone character as an older version of Jamie Tyrone. He began drafting the play late in 1941, set it aside after a few months and returned to it a year later, completing the text in 1943 – his final work, as his failing health made it physically impossible for him to write. The play premiered on

Broadway Broadway may refer to: Theatre * Broadway Theatre (disambiguation) * Broadway theatre, theatrical productions in professional theatres near Broadway, Manhattan, New York City, U.S. ** Broadway (Manhattan), the street **Broadway Theatre (53rd Stree ...

in 1957 and has had four Broadway revivals, plus a West End engagement.

Plot

Set in a dilapidated

Connecticut Connecticut () is the southernmost state in the New England region of the Northeastern United States. It is bordered by Rhode Island to the east, Massachusetts to the north, New York (state), New York to the west, and Long Island Sound to the ...

house in early September 1923, the play focuses on three characters: Josie, a domineering Irish woman with a quick tongue and a ruined reputation, her conniving father,

tenant farmer A tenant farmer is a person (farmer or farmworker) who resides on land owned by a landlord. Tenant farming is an agricultural production system in which landowners contribute their land and often a measure of operating capital and management, ...

Phil Hogan, and James Tyrone, Jr., Hogan's landlord and drinking companion, a cynical

alcoholic Alcoholism is, broadly, any drinking of alcohol that results in significant mental or physical health problems. Because there is disagreement on the definition of the word ''alcoholism'', it is not a recognized diagnostic entity. Predomina ...

haunted by the death of his mother. The play begins with Mike, the last of Hogan's three sons, leaving the farm. As a joke during one of their drunken bouts, Tyrone threatens to sell his land to his hated neighbor, T. Steadman Harder, and evict Hogan. Hogan creates a scheme in which Josie will get Tyrone drunk, seduce him, and blackmail him. Josie and Tyrone court in the moonlight. The scheme falls through when Josie finds out that Tyrone isn't going to sell the land to Harder after all. Tyrone tells Josie the story of how, after his mother died, he traveled back East on the train, and hired a blonde prostitute for $50 a night to overcome his grief. The four-act play ends with James Tyrone leaving for New York to handle his mother's estate, apparently to die soon of complications from alcoholism.

Autobiographical aspects

As in ''Journey'', the Tyrone character is based on Eugene O'Neill's older brother, Jamie O'Neill.

Productions

Eugene Gladstone O'Neill, Mesec za nesrečneže, SNG v Mariboru

''A Moon for the Misbegotten'' was produced by the

Theatre Guild The Theatre Guild is a theatrical society founded in New York City in 1918 by Lawrence Langner, Philip Moeller, Helen Westley and Theresa Helburn. Langner's wife, Armina Marshall, then served as a co-director. It evolved out of the work of th ...

, which had produced many of O'Neill's, plays including ''

Strange Interlude ''Strange Interlude'' is an experimental play in nine acts by American playwright Eugene O'Neill. O'Neill began work on it as early as 1923 and developed its scenario in 1925; he wrote the play between May 1926 and the summer of 1927, and complete ...

'' in 1928, ''

The Iceman Cometh ''The Iceman Cometh'' is a play written by American playwright Eugene O'Neill in 1939. First published in 1946, the play premiered on Broadway at the Martin Beck Theatre on October 9, 1946, directed by Eddie Dowling, where it ran for 136 perf ...

'' in 1946, and this play, the last. Because O'Neill was "unhappy with progress in rehearsals, ... edemanded out-of-town tryouts in a series of Midwestern cities." The play had its world premiere at the Hartman Theatre in

Columbus, Ohio Columbus () is the state capital and the most populous city in the U.S. state of Ohio. With a 2020 census population of 905,748, it is the 14th-most populous city in the U.S., the second-most populous city in the Midwest, after Chicago, an ...

, in 1947. The play has been produced five times on

. The original production opened on May 2, 1957, at the now-demolished Bijou Theatre, where it ran for 68 performances. Directed by Carmen Capalbo, the cast included

Cyril Cusack Cyril James Cusack (26 November 1910 – 7 October 1993) was an Irish stage and screen actor with a career that spanned more than 70 years. During his lifetime, he was considered one of Ireland’s finest thespians, and was renowned for his in ...

Franchot Tone Stanislaus Pascal Franchot Tone (February 27, 1905 – September 18, 1968) was an American actor, producer, and director of stage, film and television. He was a leading man in the 1930s and early 1940s, and at the height of his career was known ...

, and

Wendy Hiller Dame Wendy Margaret Hiller, (15 August 1912 – 14 May 2003) was an English film and stage actress who enjoyed a varied acting career that spanned nearly 60 years. Writer Joel Hirschorn, in his 1984 compilation ''Rating the Movie Stars'', desc ...

. Scenic design was by William Pitkin, Lighting Design by

Lee Watson Leland H. "Lee" Watson (1926 – December 8, 1989)7 was a Broadway and television lighting designer and theatre educator.5 His 1990 bio states that he worked "extensively in nearly all fields of lighting design."6 Early life and education Wa ...

, and Costume Design by Ruth Morley. Wendy Hiller was nominated for the

Tony Award The Antoinette Perry Award for Excellence in Broadway Theatre, more commonly known as the Tony Award, recognizes excellence in live Broadway theatre. The awards are presented by the American Theatre Wing and The Broadway League at an annual c ...

, Actress in a Play. The play was presented

Off-Broadway An off-Broadway theatre is any professional theatre venue in New York City with a seating capacity between 100 and 499, inclusive. These theatres are smaller than Broadway theatres, but larger than off-off-Broadway theatres, which seat fewer th ...

Circle in the Square Theatre The Circle in the Square Theatre is a Broadway theater at 235 West 50th Street, in the basement of Paramount Plaza, in the Midtown Manhattan neighborhood of New York City. It is one of two Broadway theaters that use a thrust stage that extends ...

, opening on June 12, 1968. Directed by

Theodore Mann Theodore Mann, birth name Goldman, (May 13, 1924 – February 24, 2012) was an American theatre producer and director and the Artistic Director of the Circle in the Square Theatre School. Mann co-founded Circle in the Square Theatre, widely r ...

, the cast featured Salome Jens as Josie,

Mitchell Ryan Mitchell Ryan (January 11, 1934 – March 4, 2022) was an American film, television, and stage actor, who in his six decades of television is known for playing Burke Devlin in the 1960s gothic soap opera ''Dark Shadows'', and later for his co- ...

as James Tyrone, Jr.,

Garry Mitchell Garry may refer to: Names *Gary (given name) or Garry *Garry (surname) Places * Cape Garry, South Shetlands *Fort Garry, Winnipeg, a district in Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada *Garry Lake, Nunavut, Canada * Rural Municipality of Garry No. 245, S ...

as T. Stedman Harder, W. B. Brydon as Phil and Jack Kehoe as Mike. Its June 20-July 8, 1973 revival production at the Academy Playhouse in Lake Forest, Illinois went on to four previews with the first Broadway staging also directed by José Quintero opening on December 29, 1973, at the

Morosco Theatre The Morosco Theatre was a Broadway theatre near Times Square in New York City from 1917 to 1982. It housed many notable productions and its demolition, along with four adjacent theaters, was controversial. History Located at 217 West 45th Stree ...

, where it ran for 313 performances. Both productions included

Colleen Dewhurst Colleen Rose Dewhurst (3 June 1924 – 22 August 1991) was a Canadian-American actress mostly known for theatre roles. She was a renowned interpreter of the works of Eugene O'Neill on the stage, and her career also encompassed film, early drama ...

who won a

Jason Robards Jason Nelson Robards Jr. (July 26, 1922 – December 26, 2000) was an American actor. Known as an interpreter of the works of playwright Eugene O'Neill, Robards received two Academy Awards, a Tony Award, a Primetime Emmy Award, and the Cannes ...

, and Ed Flanders a

recipient as well. The cast again resurrected their roles in a Quintero-directed production for television, broadcast by ABC on May 27, 1975. One of their affiliates in the state of

Florida Florida is a state located in the Southeastern region of the United States. Florida is bordered to the west by the Gulf of Mexico, to the northwest by Alabama, to the north by Georgia, to the east by the Bahamas and Atlantic Ocean, and ...

pre-empted the film controversially because it contained adult language. It garnered five

Emmy Award The Emmy Awards, or Emmys, are an extensive range of awards for artistic and technical merit for the American and international television industry. A number of annual Emmy Award ceremonies are held throughout the calendar year, each with the ...

nominations, including Outstanding Special—Drama or Comedy, with Ed Flanders also winning the award for Outstanding Single Performance by a Supporting Actor in a Comedy or Drama Special. After nineteen previews, the second revival, directed by

David Leveaux David Leveaux (born 13 December 1957)this source shows 195filmreference.com. Retrieved 9 May 2009 is a British theatre director who has been nominated for five Tony Awards as director of both plays and musicals. He directs in the UK, working at ...

, opened on May 1, 1984, at the

Cort Theatre The James Earl Jones Theatre, originally the Cort Theatre, is a Broadway theater at 138 West 48th Street, between Seventh Avenue and Sixth Avenue, in the Theater District of Midtown Manhattan in New York City, United States. It was built in ...

, where it ran for 40 performances. The cast included

Ian Bannen Ian Edmund Bannen (29 June 1928 – 3 November 1999) was a Scottish actor with a long career in film, on stage, and on television. He was nominated for an Academy Award for his performance in '' The Flight of the Phoenix'' (1965), the first ...

Jerome Kilty Jerome Timothy Kilty (June 24, 1922 in Baltimore, Maryland – September 6, 2012) was an American actor and playwright. He wrote ''Dear Liar: A Comedy of Letters.'' He worked extensively on the stage, both in the United States and abroad. Career K ...

, and Kate Nelligan. This production was nominated for the

for: Actress in a Play, Director of a Play, Lighting Design (Play or Musical) (Marc B. Weiss), and Revival (Play or Musical). After fifteen previews, the third revival, directed by Daniel Sullivan, opened on March 19, 2000, at the

Walter Kerr Theatre The Walter Kerr Theatre, previously the Ritz Theatre, is a Broadway theater at 219 West 48th Street in the Theater District of Midtown Manhattan in New York City. The theater was designed by Herbert J. Krapp and was constructed for the Shub ...

, where it ran for 120 performances. The cast included

Gabriel Byrne Gabriel James Byrne (born 12 May 1950) is an Irish actor, film director, film producer, screenwriter, audiobook narrator, and author. His acting career began in the Focus Theatre before he joined London's Royal Court Theatre in 1979. Byrne's s ...

Roy Dotrice Roy Dotrice (26 May 1923 – 16 October 2017) was a British actor famed for his portrayal of the antiquarian John Aubrey in the record-breaking solo play '' Brief Lives''. Abroad, he won a Tony Award for his performance in the 2000 Broadway r ...

, and

Cherry Jones Cherry Jones (born November 21, 1956) is an American actress known for her roles on screen and stage. She has received various accolades for her performances in television and theatre including three Primetime Emmy Awards, two Tony Awards, th ...

. A fourth revival, starring

Kevin Spacey Kevin Spacey Fowler (born July 26, 1959) is an American actor. He began his career as a stage actor during the 1980s, obtaining supporting roles before gaining a leading man status in film and television. Spacey has received various accolade ...

, began previews on March 29, 2007 and closed on June 10, 2007, at the Brooks Atkinson Theatre following a 112 performance run at the

Old Vic Theatre The Old Vic is a 1,000-seat, not-for-profit producing theatre in Waterloo, London, England. Established in 1818 as the Royal Coburg Theatre, and renamed in 1833 the Royal Victoria Theatre. In 1871 it was rebuilt and reopened as the Royal ...

in London 15 September 2006 to 23 December 2006, featuring

Eve Best Emily "Eve" Best (born 31 July 1971) is an English actress and director. She is known for her television roles as Dr. Eleanor O'Hara in the Showtime series ''Nurse Jackie'' (2009–13), First Lady Dolley Madison in the ''American Experience'' ...

, Billy Carter,

Colm Meaney Colm J. Meaney (; ga, Colm Ó Maonaigh; born 30 May 1953) is an Irish actor known for playing Miles O'Brien in '' Star Trek: The Next Generation'' (1987–1994) and ''Star Trek: Deep Space Nine'' (1993–1999). He has guest-starred on many TV ...

, and Eugene O'Hare. A London production at the Riverside Studios in 1983 starred Ian Bannen and Frances De La Tour. Between October 13 and November 15, 2013, ''A Moon for the Misbegotten'' was produced for the first time in

Low German : : : : : (70,000) (30,000) (8,000) , familycolor = Indo-European , fam2 = Germanic , fam3 = West Germanic , fam4 = North Sea Germanic , ancestor = Old Saxon , ancestor2 = Middle ...

under the title ''Lengen na Leev (Longing for Love)'' at the Ohnsorg Theater in

Hamburg Hamburg (, ; nds, label=Hamburg German, Low Saxon, Hamborg ), officially the Free and Hanseatic City of Hamburg (german: Freie und Hansestadt Hamburg; nds, label=Low Saxon, Friee un Hansestadt Hamborg),. is the List of cities in Germany by popul ...

Critical response

According to Michael Manheim, the 1973 revival, starring

and

, was "the most famous" of the productions, and "the performances of this production are usually seen as the defining interpretations of Tyrone and Josie." The ''CurtainUp'' reviewer of the 2000 revival compared the 1973 production: "Dewhurst and Robards rescued O'Neill's failed play from neglect by digging beneath the facades these desperate people presented to the world -- he as a cynical carouser, she as the town tramp....The revival at the Morosco...proved O'Neill scholar Travis Bogard right when he declared Moon 'doomed to failure without superb acting' since no subsequent production ever recreated the magic of those 314 performances.Sommer, Elyse
"A CurtainUp Review. ''A Moon For the Misbegotten''"
''CurtainUp'', accessed August 13, 2015 In his review of the 2007 production,

Ben Brantley Benjamin D. Brantley (born October 26, 1954) is an American theater critic, journalist, editor, publisher and writer. He served as the chief theater critic for ''The New York Times'' from 1996 to 2017, and as co-chief theater critic from 2017 to ...

, writing in ''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid ...

'' mentioned the prior two revivals, noting "Both those versions emphasized the pathos of ''Moon,'' written in 1943 and first produced on Broadway in 1957. Inspired by the unhappy final chapters in the life of O’Neill’s ne’er-do-well older brother, James, the play is singular within its author’s body of work for its forgiving spirit."

Awards and nominations

;2007 *Best Actress in a Play, Eve Best (nominee) ; 2000 *Tony Award, Best Revival of a Play (nominee) *Tony Award, Best Actor in Play, Byrne (nominee) *Tony Award, Best Actress in a Play, Jones (nominee) *Tony Award, Best Featured Actor in a Play, Dotrice (winner) ;1984 *Tony Award, Best Actress in a Play, Nelligan (nominee) *Tony Award, Best Lighting Design, Marc B. Weiss (nominee) *Tony Award, Best Direction of a Play (nominee) *Tony Award, Best Reproduction (nominee) ;1973:Academy Playhouse Producers Marshall Migatz and William T. Gardner ;1974 *Tony Award, Best Actor in Play, Robards (nominee) *Tony Award, Best Actress in a Play, Dewhurst (winner) *Tony Award, Best Featured Actor in a Play, Flanders (winner) *Tony Award, Best Lighting Design, Ben Edwards (nominee) *Tony Award, Best Direction of a Play, Quintero (winner) *Tony Award, Special Award, Elliot Martin (recipient) *Tony Award, Special Award, Lester Osterman Productions (recipient) ;1958 *Tony Award, Best Actress in a Play, Hiller (nominee)

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Moon For The Misbegotten 1947 plays Autobiographical plays Broadway plays Plays by Eugene O'Neill Plays set in Connecticut Sequel plays