Iron Age Theatre
&
The Montgomery County Cultural Center
Present

Moon for the Misbegotten

March 26-April 4 and April 16-25 2004


Directed by John Doyle and Randall Wise


8pm (2pm Matinee on Sunday)

with
Ray Saraceni as James Tyrone
Suzanne Smart as Josie Hogan
Steve Hatzai as Phil Hogan
Steve McLean as T. Steadman Harder
Jered McLenigan as Mike Hogan

in the Centre Theater
at the Montgomery County Cultural Center
208 Dekalb Street, Norristown

(610) 279-1013


Read Reviews of the Production

A beautiful play about two lost souls and a chance encounter under the full moon Eugene O’Neill’s last play is a warm, wise and infectious blend of comedy, tragedy, autobiography and imagination. Two people, whose only chance at love and forgiveness lies in the other, spend the night in an often comic struggle to find hope, happiness and ultimately the redemption of love Winner of four Pulitzer Prizes, O’Neill is the greatest American playwright. Moon for the Misbegotten is hailed as his most honest, immediate, comic and lyric play. It is a modern classic.

Meet the Cast of Moon for the Misbegotten

Learn more about the production.

Links of Interest:
A Lecture on the Play with Study Aids
A PDF file about O'Neill and Ah Wilderness
A Salon Article on the Play
Information on O'Neill
A Massive O'Neill Archive - Great Site
Eugene O'Neill National Historic Site
A Study Guide for A Moon for the Misbegotten from Trinity Rep. (A PDF File)
An O'Neill Bio
Links to O'Neill's Plays on Line
Farming in Connecticut
The Story of Standard Oil
A History of Standard Oil
The Connecticut Landscape and Farming
A Lesson in Farming
Broadway in the 1920s
Broadway in the 1920s - "Metropolis"
A Little Something about James Tyrone
Moon as an Irish Film
Analysis of Moon for the Misbegotten
Info on Bourbon
A Bourbon Glossary
More About Whiskey
Pig Husbandry
The Trains in the 1920s
More Train History
Even More Train History
Info on an Ice Pond
Irish Immigration
An Irish Insult Generator
A Site full of Insults
Irish Jokes and Stories

Reviews:

Moon is a moving exploration of the nature of loneliness and is exactly the kind of drama Iron Age does so well.
J. Cooper Robb
Philadelphia Weekly

Iron Age Theatre producers/directors Randy Wise and John Doyle are adamant in referring to Eugene O’Neill’s A Moon for the Misbegotten as comedy. They mean this, certainly, in the classic comedia sense, where all is made right in the end. It turns out this piece, particularly in the first two acts, is very funny. What tenant farmer Phil Hogan and his daughter, Josie, do to their snooty neighbor is a piece worthy of the Marx Brothers at their manic best.
Suzanne Smart, in her first appearance with Iron Age, is O’Neill’s very description of Josie. She is the Celtic mother-goddess, fierce, angry, intimidating, unpredictable, loving, nurturing, vulnerable, forgiving, and healing. Her performance is letter-perfect.
Steve Hatzi has fun playing Hogan, as he should. He ably conveys the scurrilous old scalawag’s unearned bragging, unrepentant drunkenness, uncalled for price, unsurprising cowardice, and unsuspected depth.
Iron Age veteran Ray Saraceni is one of the region’s most unrecognized actors. Under Wise and Doyle’s direction, he continually turns in one terrific performance after another. His fleshy face, which has tended to make him seem young for many of his parts, is finally developing the kind character only age and experience can give it. His performance is nuanced and full of Tyrone’s charm and pain.
Jim McCaffrey
Main Line Life

It is to the credit of the Iron Age Theatre Company production (directed by Randall Wise and John Doyle and staged at the Montgomery County Cultural Center in Norristown) that this key scene is emotionally persuasive: Ray Saraceni, who plays Tyrone, is at his best as the tormented soul confessing his sins, and Suzanne H. Smart is strong as Josie throughout. The scene is in itself something of a redemption, because it makes this quite competent... version of A Moon for the Misbegotten worth a visit.
Smart assumes the persona of Josie naturally: a heavy, plain woman whose tough, outspoken exterior masks the vulnerability and goodness that attract Tyrone. Smart's forceful portrayal compels attention throughout the play, and its trueness often overshadows that of Saraceni, who sometimes has trouble finding a convincing way into the temperamental, hallucination-plagued alcoholic he plays.
Although it is too easy to see through the blustery, selfish facade of Steve Hatzai's transparent portrayal of Phil, Hatzai's crafty, rascally character does what he is supposed to do very well - energize the play and give it a comic lift.
Douglas J Keating
Philadelphia Inquirer

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