The Great God Brown

Great God Brown, The (1926), a play by Eugene O'Neill. [Greenwich Village Theatre, 271 perf.] William A. Brown (William Harrigan) and Dion Anthony (Robert Keith) are the sons of business partners and will soon take over the business. Both men love Margaret (Eleanor Wesselhoeft), but she chooses Dion, although it is not the real Dion she elects, not the tortured, sensitive, and artistic Dion but rather the Dion of the mocking, cynical mask. Indeed, when Dion briefly removes his mask in a moment of ecstatic passion, Margaret is revolted. Dion retires from the business partnership, fails in his attempt to become a painter, returns as Brown's employee, but soon withers and dies. Taking Dion's mask, Brown also takes his place as Margaret's husband, until the deception is revealed. By that time the real, inner Brown has languished. When Brown is accused of murdering his true self, only the prostitute, Cybel (Anne Shoemaker), who wears no mask, comforts him. Years after both men's deaths, Margaret looks back and swears eternal love to Dion, or at least to Dion's mask. “From passages of winged poetry he shifts quickly to mordant irony,” Brooks Atkinson noted of O'Neill's writing, continuing, “from the abstract he passes to the concrete without missing a beat.” Although many playgoers were baffled by the expressionistic work, in which the actors often spoke from behind masks, enough were intrigued to give the production a surprising commercial success. The play is reputed to have been O'Neill's own favorite among his works. A 1959 revival was unsuccessful, but a New Phoenix Repertory Company production in 1972 was generally commended.

Eugene O’neill 1926

When The Great God Brown opened at the Greenwich Village Theatre in New York on January 23, 1926, Eugene O’Neill presented the audience with a new kind of theatrical experience. Other playwrights had previously used masks on stage, but none had presented them in such an innovative way. While opening night reviews were mixed, the audience’s appreciation of the play kept it running for 283 performances. Many viewers were excited by the play’s bold expressionistic technique — specifically O’Neill’s experimental use of masks. The play focuses on the lives of three main characters: Dion Anthony, a failed artist; his wife, Margaret; and Billy Brown, a successful architect and friend to Dion and Margaret. Throughout the play, these characters wear masks that serve several purposes. They help the characters hide and thus protect their vulnerable inner selves while, at the same time, allowing them to project pleasing public images in an attempt to restore their confidence in themselves. Yet, ultimately, the tensions that result from not being able to reveal their true selves cause the characters to suffer and further isolate themselves from each other. The Great God Brown presents a penetrating study of the inner workings of the human psyche as it struggles to cope with betrayal, failure, and a search for identity.