Ah, Wilderness! By Eugene O'Neill Lincoln Center Theatre at the Vivian Beaumont Review by David Roberts A more apt subtitle for Eugene O'Neill's "Ah, Wilderness!" (nominated for Best Revival of a Play) might be "Richard's Story in Three Acts". For this 1933 comedy of recollection is truly the on stage revealing of the inner life of this just out of high school young man. And Richard's inner life is the reflection of the complications of between wars America. Issues of privacy, sexuality (and sensuality), fear, power, responsibility and uncertainty pour from Richard's soul and mouth with a force that is much more than comical. If America had not lost its innocence prior to World War I it certainly emerged from that conflict a more adolescent nation than ever before searching for an identity and an independence which had not been achieved by the drafting of any declaration. This search is Richard's search and Richard's father's search. Nat Miller (Craig T. Nelson) and his son Richard (Sam Trammell) speak alike, gesticulate alike, dream alike and have the same basic craving for the one thing which seems to have eluded them up to the present; namely, true love. Richard's longing for Muriel McComber (Tracy Middendorf) somehow inspires his father to experience again his own sensuality. When Miller states near the play's end I don't believe I've hardly ever seen such a beautiful night -- with such a wonderful moon the audience recognizes the renewed passion he has for his wife (Debra Monk). And although Mrs. Miller is the only character in this play without a first name (in O'Neills original description of characters), Essie Miller develops an identity which recognizes her son's goodness and doesn't rely on her previous traits of snooping, worrying, nagging and deceiving. Essie Miller is more a person at the end of this play than she is throughout and her strength doesn't depend on the weakness of the men in her life but rather on the power she achieves by letting go of all the stereotypes of women in postwar America. This marvelous transformation is much more powerfully displayed in the Miller sitting room at the end of O'Neill's written third act than it is in the Miller bedroom of the Lincoln Center production's third act. Why the choice of the bedroom for the final scene totally eludes this reviewer. The power of Nat's rediscovery of his wife as a person and their mutual discovery of the goodness and resilience of their Son Richard does not need a Victorian bedroom to drive the point home. In general this production of "Ah, Wilderness!" is on target. Thomas Lynch's sets are outstanding and are lighted perfectly by Peter Kaczorowski. There are no walls here and no doors and the apparent comfort of the Miller home is surrounded by the unprotected uncertainty of mottled light, openness, purple purples and green greens! Dunya Ramicova's costumes not only reflect the 1906 Connecticut town where the action takes place but are fitting reflections of the characters who wear them. Stanley Silverman's original music and Scott Lehrer's sound design fit this play like a glove. All these elements work together as an ensemble and seem to come from within the action and not elements which intrude from the outside. This is technical achievement rooted in the reality of Tommy's door that shouldn't slam and opening to the possibilities beyond safety and convention -- like Richard's open door after his first exit. Daniel Sullivan's staging is innovative and works very well and he more than capably directs a wonderful ensemble. Tommy (Rufus H. Read) is any eleven year old might be. Nat and Essie's other children Arthur (Dylan Chalfy) and Mildred (Jenna Lamia) serve as wonderful contrasts to Richard's brooding and iconoclastic late adolescence. Leo Burmester's Sid and Leslie Lyles' Lily Miller play alcoholic and enabler perfectly although Mr. Burmester's intoxicated Sid is played much too broadly (despite O'Neill's warning). The tragedy of the addicted plays better when one understands that the disease and the collusion that feeds it transcends exaggerated gestures and loud talking and singing. This must have been director Daniel Sullivan's choice since he directed Mr. Trammell to act just as broadly and improbably in the scene in the bar with Belle. And Craig T. Nelson and Debra Monk are wonderfully believable as Nat and Essie Miller and really deserve the opportunity to play their final scene together in the same sitting room where the play began (it is they who are different not the rooms they appear in!). This is a complex play which probably shouldn't be as long as it is (three hours) but its power stretches across the Vivian Beaumont stage (just like the omnipresent power lines on the backdrop) is many wonderful moments and should be seen as the exploring of the wilderness of sensuality and love, of strength and weakness, of passion and resignation. Nat Miller knows that Richard will never have to worry about his being safe! -- from himself -- again and that no matter what life will do to him, he can take care of it now. Affirmations O'Neill would have made about America in the 1930s but which are national characteristics still being developed as we move into the new wilderness of the twenty-first century.   Back to top of page