Entertainment

Goes above & ‘Beyond’

The Irish Rep has done it again. Having ably resuscitated, Eugene O’Neill’s “The Hairy Ape” and “The Emperor Jones,” it’s now revived “Beyond the Horizon” — a drama that won him the first of four Pulitzer Prizes in 1920 but has rarely been seen here since.

Heralded at the time for its daringly complex characters, the play concerns two brothers in love with the same woman. The older, genial Andrew (Rod Brogan) lives to work on the family farm, while Robert (Lucas Hall), who briefly went to college, is an aspiring poet who dreams of life “beyond the horizon.”

Robert is about to realize his goal by embarking on a lengthy voyage with his seafaring uncle. Before he goes, he confesses his feelings to the sweet next-door neighbor they both love, Ruth (Wrenn Schmidt). She returns his affections, so he decides to remain home while his crestfallen brother impulsively takes Robert’s place at sea.

Forsaking their planned destinies has fateful repercussions for both men. Robert and Ruth become trapped in a loveless marriage with a young daughter, as he proves woefully ill-equipped for the demands of farming and turns bitter. Reading his brother’s mundane letters from exotic locales, he acidly comments, “His letters read like the diary of a farmer.” Meanwhile, she pines for his absent brother who — when he finally returns home, only to reveal plans for quickly leaving again — sets off a tragic chain of events.

The talky, nearly three-hour play has its creaky, melodramatic moments. But under Ciarán O’Reilly’s stark, incisive direction, the lead actors deliver sympathetic, gut-wrenching characterizations. They’re beautifully supported by the rest of the ensemble, including the terrific Patricia Conolly as Ruth’s disapproving mother.

Powerfully foreshadowing the tragic familial themes that would dominate O’Neill’s later plays, “Beyond the Horizon” has been unjustly neglected. The only question is why it took so long for the Irish Rep to get around to it.