Last night, I went to see Eugene O'Neill's classic play A Moon for the Misbegotten. I've never really read or seen anything by Eugene O'Neill. So I didn't know what to expect. I did know that it was presented by the Renaissance Austin Theatre and sponsored by the Celtic Cultural Center.

Last night's performance was also sponsored by the Austin Celtic Association who brought out a dramaturg from St. Edward's University to talk about Eugene O'Neill and explain what had happened in O'Neill's life to influence this play. That was an amazing introduction to O'Neill. It was invaluable to understanding what O'Neill was dealing with, lots of guilt from a highly dysfunctional family. It was fascinating.

While it was fascinating, it was not necessary, for this brilliant play. Eugene O'Neill definitely had a talent for writing about the human condition, and for portraying his own personal war with God. The text started off slow, but by Act 2, I was mesmerized. Overall, the actors did a fine job dutifully playing their roles and catapulting the audience onto the emotional rollercoaster that makes this such a great piece. I commend them. This is no easy work!

While overall, it was enjoyable. I had a few gripes that had me concerned. The first actor who came on the stage aside from Josie Hogan, played by Lorella Loftus, was Steven Laing, who played Mike Hogan. Stiff as a board. That's how I'd describe him. Fortunately, it was a short role. The actor was gone in five minutes, only to return a little later for another stiff role as T. Stedman Harder, a little bit more appropriate, but bad acting overall.

Mike D'Arcy as Phil Hogan did a little better. I saw good potential in his acting had he had better direction. He too needed to loosen up. By the end of the first act, as the audience started laughing at the comedic aspects of the play, he and Loftus, both loosened up and fell better into their roles. I would like to have seen him be more natural on stage too. I enjoyed the comedic interaction between Loftus and D'Arcy. But it lost a little due to the stiffness, especially in the actors' arms.

Charles P. Stites as the haunted Jim Tyrone, Jr. had a slow start, but really clicked in to his role. By the third act, Loftus and Stites carried the show. Yes, it was the third act that ultimately made the show for me. The chemistry between the two actors on stage was brilliant! It was the first time I got truly lost in the play and tears began trickling from my eye. There was a strong connection between these two characters that deepened as the scene played through all the emotional ups and downs of their relationship.

In that scene, we find Josie Hogan scheming revenge on her fractured lover, Jim Tyrone, Jr., only to find out that he was as faithful and in love with her as ever. We learn the dark secret that haunted and kept him drunk and led him to whoring in a powerful drunken revelation of not just his character, but of humankind, trying to escape its own past.

Our dramaturg professor explained that during the last few years when Eugene O'Neill was still able to write (he suffered from something like Parkinson's), he spent weeks crying as he wrote about his brother who was similarly wracked with guilt. Stites did a wonderful job fighting that internal demon trying to decide whether to tell the woman he loved. Loftus, in turn, responded appropriately to each of his revelations. Propelled by Josie Hogan's own demons, she ultimately gives way to love and compassion. There was noticeably more depth in Josie's relationship with her lover, where each nuance and subtelty was fully played out, than in Josie's relationship with her father, which seemed more shallow.

Yes, Act 3 sold me on this show. The final act was done well. I was worried when D'Arcy came back on stage, but it was short and necessary to unveil the end of a beautiful storyline. Overall, well done!

The only other complaint I had was the music. One of the quotes in the program from Eugene O'Neill [and one of the reasons it was produced by one of our local Celtic organizations] said, "One thing that explains more than anything else about me is the fact that I'm Irish. And, strangely enough, it is something that all the writers who have attempted to explain me and my work have overlooked."

That's a fascinating quote. Consequently, the play tried to incorporate music with very poor results. Anyone who listens to my Irish & Celtic Music Podcast knows I LOVE The Tea Merchants. But the first few tunes were loud and overpowering and they didn't fit the mood of this play. The Irish guitar pieces at the end by Jeff Moore were a bit more appropriate, but still seemed a bit too refined for the content of the drama.

What struck me almost immediately about this quote as I watched the play was that the play is based in the early 20th century in Connecticut. I realized that Eugene O'Neill was an Irish American but that the music was all contemporary Celtic music. In a time when Irish American music was mostly the balladry of "When Irish Eyes Are Smiling", one would expect more Irish parlor music than the rockin' reels of the 21st century.

Happily, I was easily able to look past my criticisms and focus on the magic that Lorella Loftus and Charles P. Stites brought to the stage with this production of Eugene O'Neill's play. And I must say that I find myself inspired to find more plays by O'Neill. Eugene O'Neill was referred to as the American Shakespeare and I now see that's well-spoken. My commendations to the Renaissance Austin Theatre for bringing a fine production to the stage.