Eugene O'Neill's Mourning Becomes Electra (1978)

This expressionistic work is Eugene O'Neill's classic American drama of love, revenge, murder and suicide. Set against the backdrop of a small New England town in the post-Civil War era, O'Neill's saga of family discord fueled by psychological undercurrents is from Aeschylus' "The Oresteia." The end result is one of the American theatre's most shattering epic works.

Excellent version, well acted, Memorable1

I saw this version many years ago. It was really engrossing and well acted. I think this was Joan Hackett's best performance. July 19, 2008

Accept for Joan Hackett and Bruce Davidson, not enough Expressionism

I saw this production when it first aired on PBS in the 1970's and I believe that I was a little too greatful for the chance to see O'Neill's play "Mourning Becomes Electra" in any form and thought I was entranced by the performance. Seeing it 30 years later, I was disappointed. I must say that since that time I have also experienced (on TV) Glenda Jackson's superior "Strange Interlude" which is not considered as good a play as the former. I think the problem lies in the director's choice not to give us the stark acting of Expressionism that "Mourning Becomes Electra" needs to send it into the theatrical stratusphere of Hitchcockian detached horror. I do applaud the late, highly underrated Joan Hackett whose feverish portrayal and heightened make-up put us in the O'Neill ball-park. Also, Bruce Davidson approaches the realm of over the top which his manic "Orin" calls for. I find myself lucky to have attended the Met's performance of Martin David-Levy's opera based on "Mourning Becomes Electra" and although the faux atonal orchestrations tended to obliterate the beauty of much of the music the production itself designed by the formidible Boris Aronson to the audience right back to the Greeks. All in all if you have never seen this play you might check out for the hot tempered fagility of Ms. Hackett and the rapid ravings of Mr. Davidson. August 23, 2005

Excellent Production of Great Play

O'Neill doesn't get much representation these days. Staging his plays isn't always practical. This is a really excellent video version of the play that was produced for Connecticut public television. The cast, including Joan Hackett, Roberta Maxwell, Bruce Davison and Jeffrey DeMunn is really excellent. They breathe such natural life into these supertragic, archetypal, and arguably over-Freudian, characters that you really understand why this is a magnificent tragedy and not just some soap opera. The settings are good and the staging takes advantage of the medium with scene transitions that wouldn't have been possible on stage, but would no doubt have gladdened O'Neill's heart, and give further power to his already lavish dramatic design.

Unfortunately, this IS produced for public television, and there is no attempt to hide the fact. The play is presented in a series of "Episodes," with "scenes from last time" and an opening of waves on cliffs that can not fail to remind viewers of the series "Dark Shadows." But the score by Maurice Jarre is perfect and evocative throughout the production. There is
also a clinching review/discussion/commentary at the end of each episode by, for some reason, Erich Segal. I avoided this like the plague. June 1, 2002

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