A moon for the misbegotten ***1/2

‘A moon for the misbegotten’ by the Nobel Prize winning author, Eugene O’Neill, is being performed at the Old Mill Theatre in South Perth until 21st April. It is a community theatre production which was cancelled at the last minute late last year but, I am pleased to say, has reached the stage now.

The story is set on an arid, American farm in the 1920s, but situation could easily be WA 2007 today. Phil Hogan’s (Kim Taylor) farm has struggled for years, so his son Mike (Shane McMullan) decides to leave for pastures new. However, because his landlord (Garry Davies – at his best) fancies Phil’s daughter Josie (Liz Hanich) and her ‘voluptuous breasts’, he is quite kind to his tenants. Then a major landowner (Cary Hudson), wishing to acquire neighbouring farms, appears on the scene and causes panic.

The directors, Sally Bruce and Siobhan O’Gara, have achieved plenty of movement, clear diction and good timing from their actors but generally the intonation, octave range (the gruff comments were spoken with the same pitch as the happier parts) and generally chemistry between the actors was poor in the first act.

The set design (Kyla Morgan) was simple, but very effective and created the perfect atmosphere. The lighting, whilst basically correctly positioned needed barn door and masking attention. The set was over lit. When the curtains opened – then the house lights went out?? – the stage lights were raised and one thought ‘very effective’, but the lights kept getting brighter leaving the white backcloth rather glaring. I realise that the required effect was to show the desert glare, but a soft yellow colour would have been better. The moon effect against a rich deep blue sky was wonderful, however the middle flood lights of the stage, which could have been dispensed with completely for the night scene, were raised to almost full and ruined the effect.

Liz Hanich was fabulous and her grumpy father, Kim, brought plenty of laughs.