Portal de Periódicos da CAPES

A Touch of the Poet

2023; Penn State University Press; Volume: 44; Issue: 1 Linguagem: Inglês

10.5325/eugeoneirevi.44.1.0109

2161-4318

J. Douglas Armstrong,

Theatre and Performance Studies

A Touch of the Poet is generally not considered one of Eugene O’Neill’s best works, but it has been recognized as possessing a strong central role that allows star actors to showcase their talents. Ever since Eric Portman played Cornelius “Con” Melody in the show’s Broadway premiere in 1958, the role has attracted a succession of legendary actors, including Denholm Elliott in 1967, Jason Robards in 1977, Len Cariou in 1992, and Gabriel Byrne in 2005. When the Irish Repertory Theatre announced they would be reviving the play in 2020, it seemed they would once again be using the piece as a star vehicle, this time for Robert Cuccioli, who rose to fame by playing the dual title roles in Jekyll and Hyde and more recently has proven himself as a skilled interpreter of classic works by Shakespeare, Webster, and Shaw. The pandemic intervened, postponing Cuccioli’s in-person performance. The Irish Rep instead offered a virtual production, and Cuccioli indeed was able to shine, perhaps to the point of dominating the other actors on the small screen.Something interesting happened, though, when the same cast finally assembled live on stage in 2022 for the long-delayed Off-Broadway production. Instead of being a showcase for Cuccioli, A Touch of the Poet was transformed into an ensemble piece. Con was still the center of attention, of course, but the entire Melody family and all the roustabouts who frequent their New England tavern came to life in a way that made audiences appreciate the full sweep of O’Neill’s writing. Strong performances by Andy Murray as Con’s old comrade-in-arms Jamie Cregan and James Russell as the hired barkeep Mickey Maloy helped build an atmosphere of drunkenness and decay in which Con tries to hold on to a sense of gentility. Even more impressive were Kate Forbes as Con’s wife Nora and Belle Aykroyd as his daughter Sara, both of whom managed to provide balance to the sheer force of the play’s central character.As the eccentric Deborah Harford, Mary McCann added an otherworldly strangeness to the cast of characters at the Melody tavern. Con’s drunken pass at the stately Deborah seemed hopeless from the beginning. When she politely ignored him and asked to see her son, who was smitten with Sara, the embarrassment for the entire Melody family was painfully obvious. McCann was able to shine brightest during Deborah’s long speeches before her exit, recounting the curious history of the Harford family. These passages were important to O’Neill—who originally envisioned A Touch of the Poet as part of a longer cycle telling the story of an American family across a broad swath of history—but they can be challenging in performance, since they don’t relate directly to the immediate issues of the play. McCann delivered them in a quiet but slightly unhinged manner, so when Sara remarked of Deborah, “She’s crazy, I think,” the audience might have been inclined to agree.John C. Vennema elevated the rather minor role of the lawyer Nicholas Gadsby to another memorable highlight of the production. In the scene where Gadsby tries to negotiate a “settlement” with Melody, Vennema portrayed his character’s shifting understanding of his situation. He went from condescending revulsion to relief that Melody was willing to discuss the settlement, to shocked amazement that this drunken innkeeper wished to bestow a settlement on his daughter and not receive a settlement in return for leaving town with his family. Vennema’s refined and somewhat frail appearance as Gadsby made his exit—he was dragged offstage by the ruffians Roche and O’Dowd (David Beck and Rex Young)—look truly perilous. In this Vennema was aided by the costume design by Alejo Vietti and Gail Baldoni, which accentuated the delicate natures of the almost absurdly stylish clothes worn by the “Yankee” characters Harford and Gadsby in contrast to the rough, sometimes slovenly outfits of the Irish characters.In the final act, Cuccioli’s steady work building up Con’s fantasy world paid off as that fantasy was finally smashed. It was particularly shocking to watch him recite into the mirror, one final time, lines from Lord Byron’s Childe Harold’s Pilgrimage, but this time throwing out in mockery the same words he had previously used as self-enchantment. The bitterness with which he hurled the lines about not having flattered or bowed seemed venomous. Each phrase became an insult tossed at his previous self, and the effectiveness with which Cuccioli had built up Con’s former pride made his downfall all the more terrifying. During this moment, the lights shifted, and the set by Charlie Corcoran looked transformed; lighting designer Michael Gottlieb deserves credit for the way Con’s personal transformation suddenly seemed to echo in a newly changed world.The production’s biggest revelation, and its largest departure from the virtual production staged previously, was Sara’s response to her father’s transformation. The virtual environment had not allowed performers to physically interact in any meaningful way. Live, Aykroyd as Sara was able to throw herself into the emotion of the scene. Sara this time clung to her father, grasping his body as if trying to cling to her own dreams. It was here that Sara’s resemblance to the father she had despised throughout the play became evident. Though she formerly railed at Con’s sham ideals, her own romantic longings for young Harford seemed not so distant from the dreams expressed by her father. If he could not stand “among them, but not of them,” as he had so often before claimed, what chance did she have? Aykroyd made Sara’s moving plea to her father to once again return to his former self resonate with the power of a young woman desperately needing to hold on to her own dreams.Director Ciarán O’Reilly deserves credit not just for assembling this talented group of actors, but also for coaching each of them to rise to the emotional intensity demanded by O’Neill’s script. While it was a pleasure watching Cuccioli excel in a choice O’Neill role, it was even more exciting to see an ensemble of performers working together so closely. The cast was able to bring out nuances that might otherwise have been lost in a piece that can lend itself to being a star vehicle. Aykroyd especially, making her New York City theater debut, displayed a shrewd understanding of the passion that lies at the heart of so many of O’Neill’s characters. Hopefully, Sara Melody will only be the first of many she will play on the city’s stages.