DESIRE UNDER THE ELMS Lyric, Hammersmith

Eugene O’Neill’s ferocious story of lust, greed, incest and murder, set on a farm in New England in 1850, is both realistic and mythical. A 76-year-old, stony-hearted farmer (Finbar Lynch) gets married to a 36-year-old gold-digger (Denise Gough). He is cuckolded by his youngest son (Morgan Watkins). Written in 1923 and modelled on Euripides, it is a flawed and difficult play to perform well, but it remains a powerful and superior melodrama in which the trio battle for possession of the farm. Sean Holmes’ production suffers from a badly designed set and from a young and inexperienced actor playing the son.