Dark of the Moon (play)

Dark of the Moon is a dramatic stage play by Howard Richardson and William Berney. The play was produced on Broadway in 1945.

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

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.

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 (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.

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.Paul Newman and Richard Hart once played the role of John.

This perennial favorite is based on the haunting folk ballad of "Barbara Allen." Employing a large cast and imaginative settings in the Smoky Mountains, it recounts the story of John, a strange "witch boy" who upon first beholding the beautiful Barbara Allen immediately falls in love. He is given human form to woo and marry her on the condition that she remain true to him. The marriage is consummated and Barbara gives birth to a witch child whom the townspeople destroy in a superstitious frenzy. During a religious revival Barbara is led to betray John thus breaking their spell of love. As she dies, he returns forever to the world of the mountain witches.

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