THIS LUNAR ECLIPSE SHINES WITH QUIET GRACE
The seven stages of a lunar eclipse unfold on the Irene Diamond Stage at The Pershing Square Signature Center, produced by Second Stage. This New York premiere of Donald Margulies’s newest play, which opened tonight, mirrors the structure of a lunar eclipse. Told in seven scenes with titles like “Moon enters penumbra” and “Total eclipse begins,” the play charts an emotional arc as deliberate and cosmic as its namesake.
The drama centers on an elderly married couple—George (Reed Birney) and Em (Lisa Emery)—who have set up folding chairs in a field on their western Kentucky farm to witness the eclipse. What follows is a 90-minute, character-driven reflection on a shared life, beginning in sorrow and concluding with warm, unexpected wisdom.
Margulies has written two-handers before—most memorably Collected Stories—and is also the playwright behind Dinner with Friends, Sight Unseen, and Brooklyn Boy. This newest entry diverges from his previous work, leaving behind plot points and any sign of a linear story. Instead, as George and Em watch the Earth slip between the Sun and Moon, they reflect on their land, their legacy, adopted children, pets, parenthood, marriage, and mortality. Em laments that George doesn’t talk much—though tonight, he does. They both do. They talk a lot! While the dialogue feels weighed down by backstory and bickering, the play’s final moments offer a surprising coda that reframes the entire evening, imbuing it with gentle, genuine insight.
The play evokes the kind of intimate drama once written for the late, great Jessica Tandy and Hume Cronyn—the legendary married duo who starred together in over a dozen plays, beginning with The Fourposter in 1951 and ending with The Petition in 1986. The Gin Game may be their best-known play. George is the sort of curmudgeon Cronyn played best. And Birney matches Cronyn at his ornery finest. Both he and Emery prove to be equally gifted in remaining acutely focused in capturing the complicated multilayers of a long-term relationship. Neither has a false moment in all the talk and stories combined. In lesser hands, the dialogue could easily appear more dull than alive.
Directed by Kate Whoriskey, the production unfolds with unhurried grace. Her touch is subtle, never imposing. Walt Spangler’s naturalistic scenic design, paired with S. Katy Tucker’s stunning sky projections, creates a world worth gazing at. Jennifer Moeller’s understated costumes do their job well. Amith Chandrashaker’s lighting is often mesmerizing, though the moonlight that perfectly follows the actors wherever they move may strain believability a bit, but regrettably that’s the theatrical convention that’s accepted. Grace McLean’s original music between scenes adds a note of cosmic wonder—as majestic as the eclipse itself.
With little action or a conventional plot, the play may invite the audience to reflect inwardly, drift, or question how this couple has stayed together all these years. But have patience. The final scene offers a flashback that brings it home. Watch how Birney modulates his energy and presence and joins Emery’s innocence and hope. The emotional payoff is unexpectedly luminous. Their shadows lift. A new day begins. Their talk parallels the cosmos, life on Earth, and advice for the audience: “You’ll be surprised what you can see… You just have to be patient and keep looking. Then, what do you know? There it is! It was right there, all along.”
And so it is.
photos by Joan Marcus
Lunar Eclipse
Second Stage Theater
Irene Diamond Stage at Pershing Square Signature Center, 408 West 42nd St.
90 minutes with no intermission
ends on June 22, 2025
for tickets, call 212.541.4516 visit 2st
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Gregory Fletcher is an author, a theater professor, a playwright, director, and stage manager. His craft book on playwriting is entitled Shorts and Briefs, and publishing credits include two YA novels (Other People’s Crazy, and Other People’s Drama), 2 novellas in the series Inclusive Bedtime Stories, 2 short stories in The Night Bazaar series, and several essays. Website, Facebook, Instagram.
