O’Neill’s ‘A Moon for the Misbegotten’ in Dublin: critics honour the performances of Eileen Walsh and Marty Rea

Eugene O’Neill’s last play, ‘A Moon for the Misbegotten’, has received one of the most acclaimed revivals of the season in Dublin. The production by the Druid theatre company, directed by Garry Hynes, was staged at the Gaiety Theatre as part of the Dublin Theatre Festival 2026 and closes its curtain tonight, as BroadwayWorld reports in the review published today.

At the centre of attention are the performances. According to the review, Eileen Walsh is "magnificent" in the role of Josie Hogan: she manages to make the character’s calculating mind visible, without losing her softness, vulnerability and outer strength. Alongside her, Marty Rea brings a "deeply exposed" performance as Jim Tyrone Jr., while Lorcan Cranitch completes the trio as the cunning patriarch Phil Hogan.

The play is the direct sequel to O’Neill’s masterpiece ‘Long Day’s Journey into Night’, although the review stresses that no prior knowledge is required to understand it. The dominant backdrop of the stage is a physical map of Ireland — a bold statement that connects with O’Neill’s own stage direction, where the heroine is described as having "the map of Ireland stamped on her face", bringing the American classic back through the heritage that shaped it.

The review notes that the production moves easily between heavy themes — alcoholism, the loss of parents, hidden threats — leaving room for humour and human warmth. The show lasted about three hours and fifteen minutes, well beyond the announced time, but according to the critic the time "flew by". The only reservation concerns designer Francis O’Connor’s restrained visual palette and the question of what this revival wants to say to 2026 beyond the aesthetic frame — however, as it is written, "when the central emotional climax arrives, its human weight is undeniable".