A Moon for the Misbegotten

Play

Writers: Eugene O'Neill

Overview

Show Information

Category
Play
Number of Acts
4
First Produced
1957
Genres
Drama
Settings
Period, Unit/Single Set
Time & Place
connecticut, 1923
Cast Size
small
Licensor
Ideal for
College/University, Community Theatre, High School, Mostly Male Cast, Professional Theatre, Regional Theatre, Small Cast
Casting Notes
Mostly male cast
Includes young adult, mature adult, adult characters

Synopsis

A Moon for the Misbegotten is the story of a doomed man’s guilt and the woman who tries desperately to love him. Moon is the sequel to the events in O’Neill’s A Long Day’s Journey Into Night, and features the elder Tyrone brother as the main character. Jamie Tyrone (or Jim, as he is now known) is now older and much, much sadder than when he was first introduced in Long Day's Journey. He is now the landlord of the estate, and spends nearly all of his time drinking and socializing with his tenants. He is particularly close with two of his tenants: Phil Hogan and his tough-talking, domineering Irish daughter Josie, who has long harbored romantic feelings for Jim. When Hogan hears a rumor that Tyrone plans to sell his farm to a much-hated neighbor, he hatches a plot for Josie to get Tyrone drunk and seduce him in the moonlight. What she doesn’t yet realize is that Jim Tyrone is a dead man walking, constantly haunted by the ghosts of his family, tormented with guilt over his mother’s death, and ultimately incapable of love.

Lead Characters


A Moon for the Misbegotten guide sections