Dark of the Moon (play)

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Dark of the Moon is a dramatic stage play by Howard Richardson and William Berney. The play was produced on Broadway in 1945 and was the maiden production of the now acclaimed New York Circle in the Square Theatre in 1951.

This was followed by a national tour and eventually numerous college and high-school productions.^[1] It is also revived professionally, e.g. by Pittsburgh's Quantum Theatre in 2005. The original London production 1948 – 1949, at the Lyric Hammersmith Theatre and Ambassadors Theatre, was an early much admired production by the distinguished director Peter Brook.^[2]

Set in the Appalachian Mountains and written in an Appalachian dialect, the play centers on the character of John, a witch boy who seeks to become human after falling in love with a human girl, Barbara Allen. Originally written by Howard Richardson in 1939 as a dramatization of the centuries-old European folk song "The Ballad of Barbara Allen", it was first performed at the University of Iowa in 1942 under the title Barbara Allen.^[1]

After a rewrite by Richardson's cousin, William Berney, it was presented at the Brattle Playhouse in Cambridge, Massachusetts. The Shuberts saw it and transferred it (along with the leads, Richard Hart as the Witch Boy and Carol Stone as Barbara Allen, but mainly re-cast) to Broadway at the Richard Rodgers Theatre (named at the time the 46th Street Theatre), where it ran from March 14, 1945 to December 15, 1945, directed by Robert E. Perry. ^[3]

The New York Times reviewed a 1991 "rare revival" in New Jersey, referring to the many high school and college productions, but rare professional attempts. ^[4]

Although Dark of the Moon is not a musical, it was originally billed as a "legend with music" and characters do sing in most productions.^[1] Paul Newman and Richard Hart once played the role of John. A musical version was staged at the Rubicon Theatre in 2023, with the book written by Jonathan Prince. Dark of the Moon is also featured as the 'play within a play' in Stranger Things: The First Shadow which opened in the West End in 2023.^[5]