Beyond the Horizon

"Beyond The Horizon" is a story by Eugene O'Neil, one which brought him a Pulitzer Prize. Set in rural New England, it follows the story of two brothers, Robert and Andrew Mayo. In dealing with the families struggles with love, duty and ambition, the two brothers cannot be more different, Robert dreams of leaving the farm to become a sailor, while Andrew is content to stay and work the land.

While both brothers fight for the love of one woman, Robert, a young poet is about to embark on the voyage of his dreams. Andrew on the other hand, is content working the farm land.

It has been widely speculated that this story by O'Neil drew heavily on his own experiences, including his tuberculosis and his sea voyages. During one of his sea voyages, he met a Norwegian sailor who criticized his choice of going to sea as opposed to staying on the family's farm. O'Neil would take the man's plight and turn it into a first rate plot that is considered by many to be one of his best writings.

As the plot moves along, the two brothers fight, not only with themselves, but against both their natures. Realizing they both love the same woman, each brother ends up pursuing the dream of the other with dire consequences.

While O'Neil's "The Iceman Cometh" is perhaps his most complex work, "Beyond The Horizon" deals with two complex problems: the two brothers that fight for one woman, and the fight amongst their ideals further complicated by the nature of each of them.

At La Mama, Teatro Grattacielo put forth "Beyond The Horizon" as an opera. The music is by Nicholas Flagello; the libretto is by Walter Simmons and Nicholas Flagello. In three acts, it was a clever way to take a deep play, written with such depth and style and turning it into a opera was brilliant.

The performance had a first rate orchestra, very fine acting and singing. Unfortunately, the show also had second rate execution. The biggest problem that the performance had was the staging... with a traverse stage from three sided audience viewing, the brilliant singers could not be heard over the powerful symphony unless you sat straight ahead. The audience on both sides of the stage had difficulty hearing not only the singing, but the actors movements as well as the interaction between actors were also difficult to see.

This problem should have been recognized by the director in rehearsals. The orchestra should have had either a barrier between themselves and the stage, or, the music should have been put all the way in the back of the staging area. The Stewart Theatre has lower ceilings than most venues that have this kind of orchestrations. The booming orchestra should have been considered when choosing this theater.

This production had to be in either a thrust stage, or and open stage with the audience straight ahead. It made no sense for the set up that was given to us. The people on the sides were stretching to hear the songs and soon became disinterested in the action on stage. It became clear that anyone who did not know what the plot was about looked lost. Where the people in the front looked content, the people on the sides were looking at their watches.

Another problem during the performance was the set. When the actors were walking on the runway like stage, the stage creaked something awful! This was a huge distraction for the audience, it also had to have an impact on the actors as well.

Eugene O'Neil, La Mama, "Beyond The Horizon", Alpha Sigma Lambda.