A Moon for the Misbegotten

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Play Closed 23 December 2006

Old Vic Theatre The Cut, Waterloo, London

A major revival of Eugene O'Neill classic play A Moon for the Misbegotten starring Kevin Spacey and Eve Best and directed by Howard Davies. Designs are by Bob Crowley, lighting is by Paule Constable, music is composed by Dominic Muldowney and the sound design is by Christopher Shutt.

"If you only see one production this year, make it this one" The Daily Express

Set on the Tyrones' Connecticut farm, which has been leased to bullying widower Phil Hogan. Hogan's strong, earthy daughter Josie loves Jim Tyrone, Jr, an alcoholic actor who has come back to the farm after his mother's death. To secure his hold on the farm, Hogan convinces Josie that Jim intends to sell it; he encourages Josie to seduce Jim and force a marriage proposal. The pair spend an evening in conversation, which exposes Josie's softer side and Jim's inner torment.

"A major triumph" The Times

The cast for A Moon for the Misbegotten features Eve Best as 'Josie Hogan', Eugene O'Hare as 'Mike Hogan' (Josie's brother), Colm Meaney as 'Phil Hohan' (Josie and Mike's father), Kevin Spacey as 'Jim Tyrone' and Billy Carter as 'T Stedman Harder'.

A Moon for the Misbegotten - a drama in four acts - was written in 1943 and first performed in New York City in 1957.

"Kevin Spacey's superb performance" The Independent

The director Howard Davies on Moon For The Misbegotten: "Some people avoid Eugene O'Neill because they think he's difficult or clunky in his language, or that the themes overwhelm the characters. I think they're wrong to void him. I think he's fantastic. His plays are big, raw and epic, he's struggling with fundamental themes, like love and betrayal and revenge. They're big themes, but very human and totally recognisable."

"Eve Best, perhaps the finest actress of her generation, gives one of the most beautiful accounts of aching, unconditional love I have ever seen" The Daily Telegraph

Kevin Spacey, who plays 'Jim Tyrone', on Eugene O'Neill's Moon For The Misbegotten: O'Neill is one of those writers who seem to have absolutely nothing between their heart and their pen. He's able to write characters, including himself, at a remarkable distance, without seeming to judge them. He just present's them, warts and all... I think Moon For The Misbegotten: is a minor masterpiece. O'Neill's interest has always been in teh struggle, to escape from your past, to be free in some way. All his plays on a large level have these thematic foundations about forgiveness and redemption and seeking some kind of peace. And it's their struggles that end up making all these characters worth paying attention to."

"Strong and richly comic support from Colm Meaney" Daily Telegraph

"Eugene O'Neill's A Moon for the Misbegotten is rarely seen in Britain. Now, here are Kevin Spacey and Eve Best taking the leads in a powerful new production directed by Howard Davies. Spacey has certainly had his ups and downs as the Old Vic's Artistic Director, but this is an almost unqualified triumph. By the end of the evening, the actors look much like we feel: wrung out emotionally, exhausted but triumphant... A memorable production of a hitherto neglected masterpiece" The Sunday Times/p>

"Superbly directed by Howard Davies" The Guardian

"Kevin Spacey is at his most mesmerising and magnificent as a despairing alcoholic in Eugene O'Neill's last play, A Moon For The Misbegotten. You won't find greater acting anywhere in London right now; you will, however, find better plays, for this occasionally preposterous piece takes a long half hour - until Spacey's Jim Tyrone makes his entrance - to stutter into flame." The Mail on Sunday

"Eugene O'Neill is arguably the greatest of American playwrights... his play is a work of shattering genius" The Independent

"At last the Old Vic is back on blazing form with Kevin Spacey and Eve Best starring as Jim Tyrone and Josie Hogan, the poignantly thwarted lovers in Eugene O'Neill's A Moon For The Misbegotten... What's mostly exhilarating is the scruffy naturalness of these characters... A mesmerising evening, with performances that will be up for best-of-the-year awards." The Independent on Sunday

"The play is, as the programme concedes, merely a 'minor' masterpiece, but at three hours long, and in the hands of a creative team that clearly has an unnatural fondness for the original text, it is a major ordeal." The Sunday Telegraph