The Emperor Jones

The tiny stage of the Irish Rep magically becomes a colorfully haunted island in the West Indies in this excellent revival of the Eugene O'Neill classic.

Posted on March 28, 2017 by Joel Benjamin in Off-Broadway, Plays

Obi Abili in a scene from Irish Rep’s revival of “The Emperor Jones” (Photo credit: Carol Rosegg)

Joel Benjamin, Critic

The Irish Repertory Theatre’s revival of Eugene O’Neill’s The Emperor Jones is excellent, boring inexorably into the audience’s minds, getting every heart pumping and filling the eye with color and the ears with passionate rhythms.

Directed by Ciarán O’Reilly as a feverish nightmare, this Emperor, in just over an hour, exposes the inner reaches of the mind of the title character, Brutus Jones (played with a booming voice and a larger-than-life charisma by Obi Abili) leaving tedious reality behind.

With Charlie Corcoran’s flexible set turning the tiny stage of the Irish Rep into a looming tropical forest and the smartly realized costumes of Antonia Ford-Robertsand Whitney Locher and Bob Flanagan’s masks and puppets transforming a cast of seven into a multitude of trees, ghostly presences and spirits, the five hundred or so square feet of this stage on West 22^nd Street became a vividly haunted island in the West Indies giving life to O’Neill’s 1920 drama.

Andy Murray and Obi Abili in a scene from Irish Rep’s revival of “The Emperor Jones” (Photo credit: Carol Rosegg)

Using wile, threats, violence and his personal form of voodoo, Pullman porter/escaped chain gang prisoner, Brutus Jones became the iron-fisted ruler of a tiny nation whose inhabitants appear to be totally cowed until, that is, they aren’t and foment a revolt against his savage rule. Suddenly, the self-anointed Emperor has to make a sprint for the coast and, hopefully, an escape. In the course of this frantic dash, Jones’ past haunts him, the forest taunts him, and he is overwhelmed by his guilt and done in by his own boasts about his immortality.

Henry Smithers (Andy Murray, properly worn-out and sporting an excellent accent), a white man, lords it over the island’s blacks with Jones’ passive approval. As the play opens, he is abusing a poor woman, setting the scene for Jones’ entrance, sitting on a grand, red velvet throne. As things deteriorate for the Emperor, slimy Smithers reinvents himself and sides with the natives who hound Jones until they “hoist” Jones “by his own petard.”

Sinclair Mitchell, Obi Abili and William Bellamy in a scene from Irish Rep’ revival of “The Emperor Jones” (Photo credit: Carol Rosegg)

The rest of the cast—William Bellamy, Carl Hendrick Louis, Sinclair Mitchell, Angel Moore and Reggie Talley—though mostly hidden by brilliantly evocative masks and constructions, are, nevertheless, vivid in their movements and acting.

Although some of the language is now considered over-the-top politically incorrect and vulgar, it is of its time and is used with skill by O’Neill whose ear for dialect was always exacting. The lines are delivered with confidence and power making them easier to take.

The Irish Rep’s take on this O’Neill gem makes it live again and makes a great case for its reemergence.

The Emperor Jones (through April 23, 2017)

Irish Repertory Theatre, 132 West 22^nd Street, in Manhattan

For tickets, call 212-727-2737 or visit http://www.IrishRep.org

Running time: 65 minutes with no intermission

About Joel Benjamin (554 Articles)

JOEL BENJAMIN was a child performer on Broadway and danced with leading modern dance and ballet companies. Joel has been attending theater, ballet and opera performances ever since childhood, becoming quite opinionated over the years. He was the founder and artistic director of the American Chamber Ballet and subsequently was massage therapist to the stars before becoming a reviewer and memoirist. He is a member of the Outer Critics Circle.