Review: Forest Whitaker Shines in Lackluster 'Hughie'

Many New Yorkers are nostalgic for the seedy 1928 Broadway of gamblers and chorus girls highlighted in Eugene O'Neill's one act drama "Hughie." A new production directed by Michael Grandage at the Booth Theater, taps into that nostalgia: stage mist makes the electric lights glow like moons and contributes to the decrepit glamour of the hotel lobby (Christopher Oram is the scenic designer) where the show is set.

Forest Whitaker plays a charming, down-on-his-luck gambler named Erie Smith, in a role that is effectively a monologue delivered to a bored hotel night clerk. Smith has been losing it ever since the former hotel clerk died — his name was Hughie. Now Smith is trying to get his mojo back by molding the new clerk in the old one's image. Whitaker is alternately genial and despairing, wearing his deep sadness like a coat. He makes it clear that Hughie was Smith’s only friend: the clerk’s admiring gaze gave the gambler’s life a shine and purpose it otherwise lacked. 

O'Neill is known for his compassionate, nuanced portrayals of such sad-sack characters. Indeed, this short work is a wonderful character study and an affecting portrait of grief. What it isn't is a compelling narrative. Not a lot happens in "Hughie" — and the one thing that does, toward the end, is so unbelievable, it warps the story. It makes sense that the play was never produced during the playwright's lifetime.