Tonight, at the Almeida, A Moon for the Misbegotten lands like a blow wrapped in poetry—a raw, heartfelt collision of booze‑scarred souls, human flinches, and a moonlight that enthrals as much as it devastates. Leading the charge is Ruth Wilson as Josie Hogan, delivering a performance that’s fiercely grounded, physically charged, and impossible to ignore.
Set on a rundown Connecticut farm in 1923, A Moon for the Misbegotten follows tenant farmer Phil Hogan and his strong-willed daughter Josie as they face the looming threat of eviction. In a calculated gambit, Phil hatches a plan to use Josie to manipulate their landlord, James Tyrone Jr. But as night falls and moonlight casts its harsh glow, the façade of strategy gives way to something deeper—unspoken grief, buried longing, and a fragile connection between two damaged souls who find, if only briefly, a moment of honesty.
Wilson’s Josie is transformative in every sense. Moving Josie from a crude caricature into a three-dimensional force, Wilson evolves Eugene O’Niell’s potentially dated depiction into an authentic and compellingly complex woman. Even when wrapped in bravado, her portrayal is deeply vulnerable and a sight to behold. Moreover, doing so in amongst the physicality of a character whose type-cast Wilson far from meets, the performance is staggering in its precision and richly human truth.
Michael Shannon brings an astute restraint to the suffering of Jim Tyrone, portraying a man quietly unravelling under the weight of guilt and grief. His performance shifts fluidly between charm and disarray, wit and wretchedness, offering a layered portrait of a soul in turmoil. As Phil Hogan, David Threlfall is perfection. Both sharply sardonic and overflowing with sensitivity—booming with drunken bravado one moment, then disarmingly gentle the next. His scenes with Wilson are especially electric; their rapport brims with a lived-in rhythm, trading barbs and affection like two people bound by history and hardened affection.
Bringing Eugene O’Niell’s world to life, Rebbecca Frecknall has once again delivered a triumph. Loyal to the text, with all its dated language, somehow the humanity of characters is so beautifully realised that nothing can get in the way of the beauty and sorrow this story ultimately delivers. The space, in this single-location pressure cooker play, feels dynamic and ever changing. Each movement cast or reconfiguration imposed a stroke of directorial genius. Tom Scutt’s set conjures a world on the edge of collapse—an untidy yard strewn with timber and ladders. Objects wobble, unstable and insecure, and through the frame of the house we see a life where no foundations are on solid ground. Jack Knowles’s lighting broods with symbolic flair and palpable emotion, a looming ring of moonlight which pulls the emotional shifts on the stage. Whilst, some have noted this production’s challenges, chiefly its near three-hour runtime, I found myself captive to this heartbreaking drama – with three hours feeling like not nearly enough.
Rebecca Frecknall’s production of A Moon for the Misbegotten is a raw and powerful exploration of emotional truth, shame, and desire. Championing a faithful adherence to O’Neill’s original text, with outstanding performances alongside impeccable design, this evocative slow burn drama is a deeply affecting theatrical experience. Raw, moving, and full to the brim with sorrow: this is a production that lingers long after the final curtain.
Playing until 16th August 2025, buy tickets here:https://almeida.co.uk/whats-on/a-moon-for-the-misbegotten/
Reviewer: Sadie Pearson
Reviewed: 27th June 2025
North West End UK Rating: