Review: DESIRE UNDER THE ELMS, Crucible Theatre, Sheffield

A dirt-covered stage, canopied by a star-strewn sky, transforms the Crucible Theatre into a rural America desperate to be touched by some of the magic of the Gold Rush. Eugene O'Neill's play opens with brothers Peter (Theo Ogundipe) and Simeon (Sule Rime) selling their share of their father's farm to their half-brother Eben (Michael Shea) so that they can go to 'Cali-for-ni-a' to seek their fortune in gold.

After Peter and Simeon depart the farm, their father Ephraim (Matthew Kelly) returns, accompanied by his new, much younger bride, Abbie (Aoife Duffin). Abbie has her heart set on being the mistress of the farm and farmhouse, and soon also sets her eyes on Eben. The two begin a secret affair, and the tension between father and son escalates as each member of the trio (Ephraim, Eben and Abbie) tries to grab onto the land and claim it for their own - until tragedy inevitably strikes.

The farm in question is visualised predominantly by an overgrown field of wheat sheaves at the back of the set, providing an almost eerie border between the family's land and everything else in the world. The farmhouse is marked by bringing furniture onto the dirt rather than through the use of walls, which makes for an effective blending of landscape and home that really works.

There are repeated musical interludes featuring choral singing and subtle lighting changes, often involving the use of candles. These, combined with the scenery, allude to the spiritual dimension of this story. Eben is haunted by the ghost of his late mother, believing the farm and house to be rightfully hers, and duty bound to claim it for her. Ephraim is also haunted - most notably by his fear of, and desperate need to believe in, a powerful God.

In what could easily be a contemporary satire (if you didn't know this play was around a century old), we have an elderly patriarch trying to justify his anger and outbursts and his desire to control his own territory and prevent anyone else having a stake in it by claiming he is doing God's work.

Desire Under the Elms deliberately draws upon a number of Bible stories and Greek myths (most notably that of Phaedra, Hippolytus and Theseus), and is suitably Gothic and melodramatic in tone and content - as well as offering a somewhat satirical take on the American Dream. As an allegory, it just about works.

Taken on its own merits, however, it's not always clear - and this is perhaps the fault of the play itself more than this production specifically - what characters are really feeling and thinking. Abbie is initially presented as opportunistic, seeking only to bed Eben to give her a child that his father is unable to sire, using her sexuality as a tool of power over both men.

Later, however, she professes to love Eben with all her soul and even commits a drastic and irrational act in order to keep him. It is unclear at what point in proceedings her calculations gave way to genuine passion - if indeed they do at all, or if we are to read her instead as insane.

Likewise, it is difficult to sympathise with the male characters. Each of them have experienced tragic circumstances, to be sure, but they also behave terribly to each other and to Abbie.

Gripes with O'Neill's play aside, this is a grand production that is beautifully staged, lit and costumed. The greatest strengths of the text - the allegory, the haunted sense of place and time, the strength of familial or romantic bonds - are all brought to the forefront. Little things like the use of a real water pump, and the way characters use the sandy dirt onto the floor to indicate emotional states and stake claims on the territory, work exceptionally well and really set the tone of the play.

The supporting cast adds some humour to proceedings as neighbours who know exactly what's going on with Ephraim and his clan and love to gossip about them. The lead performers do a great job with demanding roles, and Michael Shea holds his own against theatre heavyweight Kelly, despite being a relative newcomer.

Unfortunately, some of the diction is quite muffled and delivery often aimed upstage, meaning lines are occasionally lost. This is a particular problem in the first two scenes, with the three brothers focusing their attentions away from the farm and towards California - focusing their gaze and their words beyond the back of the set.

As these scenes are perhaps the least interesting in the play anyway, struggling to hear the words means it takes a while for the audience to acclimatise. This problem improves once Ephraim and Abbie arrive at the farm and the action is much more concentrated on the farm itself, rather than the world beyond.

Qualms aside, this is an evocative production, beautifully staged, with a lot to recommend it - particularly for lovers of Americana and melodrama, and for anyone interested in stories that wrestle with the eternal struggles of love, family, faith and future.

Desire Under the Elms is at the Crucible, Sheffield, until 14 October.

Photo by Marc Brenner.