Lunar Eclipse

Tweet

A farming couple who have been married 50 years go out into their western Kentucky field to watch a lunar eclipse. Nothing much happens but, on the other hand, they review their entire lives. There is little we don’t know about them by the end of the eclipse. Under the direction of Kate Whoriskey, Pulitzer Prize-winner Donald Margulies’ latest play, Lunar Eclipse, with veteran actors Reed Birney and Lisa Emery is extremely poetic and sensitive about people and their feelings. If you are looking for action, this will not be for you. However, if you think plays should reveal the human condition, then you will be caught up in this very human story of lives lived with regrets but always to the best of their abilities.

The character names George and Em suggest the young couple in Thornton Wilder’s Our Town whose lives together we do not get to see. Like Wilder’s play, Lunar Eclipse attempts to be universal discussing life and death, marriage, family and relationships, and regrets and accomplishments. Very quickly we discover that though married half a century, George and Em are a mystery to each other (like the heavens above) as they hardly ever share their feelings even in times of tragedy. And both currently have very real fears.

George reveals that he is afraid that he is losing his memory after some frightening episodes: is it simply aging or the onset of dementia? Emily fears she is losing George, her companion of 50 years, that he is getting further away. He apologizes for dragging her out to the farm when she preferred town life, but Em tells him that she came because she loved him – though he doesn’t understand why. George wanted to follow in his father and grandfather’s footsteps as a farmer on land he considered beautiful though Em doesn’t think she was much good as a farmer’s wife while trying her best.

They both have deep regrets for things which they can’t change. Em feels guilty that she did not do more for their adopted son Tim who died of an overdose at age 36. However, George reminds her that they did everything they could from treatment centers to halfway houses. He regrets that he could not show Tim more affection but recalls that Tim rejected all his efforts for hunting and fishing trips until he stopped trying. Em points out that George has shown more emotion over his deceased dogs particularly Belle whom they buried the week before rather than his own son, but it obvious that the dogs very extremely affectionate which Tim was not. George still resents that Tim stole from them to feed his habit: his telescope that came from his father, the small television in their kitchen, Em’s amethyst earrings that came from her grandmother. She refuses to believe that it was Tim but George is certain that it was he.

When they talk of the future they disagree also: when they are gone George is afraid that their adopted daughter Mary Ann will immediately sell off the land to a Walmart and have it paved over, which Em sees as progress and feels their farm will have lived out its usefulness and should be put to some good used. Mary Ann we find out has also escaped the farm and has a life of her own in Denver where they hardly ever see her, though they sound like they were caring parents.

Eventually they talk about the lunar eclipse which they see out over the audience (but we can’t.) True to form, the cynical George is disappointed with the lunar show, but Em who had not planned on viewing it rates it as a nine or a ten. Earlier they recalled the first time they viewed a lunar eclipse in the same location. In a brilliant coup de theatre, Margulies bring us back to the first time they were alone together 50 years before watching another lunar eclipse which brings us and them back to how it all began, just as in Our Town. Although they stand much taller and seem younger, it is a choice that nothing is done costume-wise to make them look as they did in high school.

While Whoriskey’s direction is low-key and underplayed, veteran actors Reed Birney and Lisa Emery are superb at keeping us with them throughout. Reed gives us the gruff, disappointed George who according to Em has hardened over the years based on his life experiences. Emery’s Em is understanding, compassionate, wise and self-effacing. Dressed in Jennifer Moeller’s pitch perfect rural outdoor clothing, they are the very picture of the modern farm couple.

The lovely setting by Walt Spangler includes trees, high grasses and a large vista of sky which is lit by Amit Chandrashaker’s poetic lighting and S. Katy Tucker’s skyscape video design. Grace McLean’s lovely music punctuates the scene breaks for the seven stages of the celestial star show. While Lunar Eclipse could have been staged to be more dramatic, it works as an elegy for two people who have shared a lifetime away from the maddening crowd. Donald Margulies has learned a great many lessons from Thornton Wilder’s dramaturgy.

Lunar Eclipse (through June 22, 2025)

Second Stage Theater

The Irene Diamond Stage at The Pershing Square Signature Center, 480 W. 42^nd Street, in Manhattan

For tickets, call 212-541-4516 or visit http://www.2ST.com

Running time: one hour and 25 minutes without an intermission