Rebecca Frecknall's revival of Eugene O'Neill's final play presents a surprising take by allowing the text to speak for itself. However, while aiming for authenticity, this choice exposes the play’s age, resulting in a sluggish three-hour performance lacking intensity. The story revolves around Phil Hogan's plan for his daughter, Josie, to seduce a wealthy landlord, leading to escalating interpersonal drama. Although performances by Ruth Wilson and David Threlfall stand out, the overall balance falters as characters oscillate between melodrama and tragedy, undermining psychological depth.
Frecknall has stepped back to let the play do the speaking, but this faithfulness lays bare the datedness of the drama, which creaks with age.
The production itself seems imbalanced too: glacial in pace, stretching across three hours, it lacks intensity and anti-climactically chugs to its end.
Wilson is, as always, magnetic in her stage presence, in farm-hand dungarees with the hint of Irishness to her American accent.
The characters hover between the roguish, melodramatic and tragic, speaking in scheming monologues which arrest psychological development.
Collection
[
|
...
]