Moon for the Misbegotten, A

Moon for the Misbegotten, A (1957), a play by Eugene O'Neill. [Bijou Theatre, 68 perf.] Having buried his mother, the hopelessly dissipated James Tyrone Jr. ( Franchot Tone) wanders aimlessly in search of a mother figure. On the wretched Connecticut farm of a seedy Irishman, Phil Hogan ( Cyril Cusack), James finds such a figure in Hogan's homely, but warm‐hearted daughter, Josie ( Wendy Hiller). Josie and her father plan to trick James into marrying her but instead, during a long night of drunken blather and confessions, James and Josie reach an understanding of each other's fatal instincts. James leaves her, wandering off on his path toward self‐destruction. The play originally failed in a 1947 tryout and was coolly received when it opened on Broadway ten years later. Not until a fine revival by the Circle in the Square in 1968 were its merits fully perceived. The revival featured Mitchell Ryan as Tyrone, W. B. Brydon as Hogan, and Salome Jens as his daughter. A 1973 revival, directed by José Quintero and starring Jason Robards Jr. and Colleen Dewhurst, is recognized as the touchstone performance of the work. Less successful but still commendable were revivals in 1984 with Kate Nelligan and Ian Bannen and in 2000 with Cherry Jones and Gabriel Bryne. While not quite top rank O'Neill, it remains a powerfully moving drama and is closely linked to the even more autobiographical Long Day's Journey into Night by the importance of the Tyrone figure to both works.