Desire Under the Elms

After twenty eight years of run ins with censors all over the nation Eugene O'Neill's Desire Under the Elms has finally arrived in Boston via the Brattle players. Though a few apparently subversive lines have been cut none of the overall meaning has been lost and the present production would not have offended the sensibilities of the others of the Massachusetts Bay Charter. It might however have grated upon their religious beliefs.

The story of a hard earth bound New England family, Desire Under the Elms is a study of the forms of possession which find root in the Puritan dogma. It is tragedy in its deepest most elemental sense. Each character seeks justification for his cruelty to the others by his fear of the wrath of an Old Testament God. An elemental force drives each to "Willow everything," to consume love and property in the desire for self increase. But through all the crude violence and apparent pessimism of the play there arises an intense affirmation of the dignity of man if not of his values. O'Neil's peculiar brand of tragedy can see the triumph of a selfless passion even while his two protagonists are being led away to the gallows.

The most striking aspect of the current production is Robert O'Hearn's magnificent set. Without over crowding the stage it combines four rooms two bedrooms a kitchen and a parlor into one moldy lifeless farmhouse. Two drooping elms symbols of an oppressive divinity fold over the Cabot homestead snuffing out the life inside. All the action takes place in and outside this setting, which effectively fuses both the local color and the theme of puritanical repression.

Paul Steven's sensitive portrayal of Eben, the lover of his father's third wife is outstanding in a generally admirable cast. Abbie played by Priseilla Amidon is also excellent; she catches every nuance of change as passion makes its erratic inroads on her grasping egotism. Finally Larry Gates, though competent lets his flights from peacefulness to high fury lend a note of unevenness to what should have been a consistent character. The other members of the cast were all credible New Englanders, a tribute to the direction of Henry Weinstein.