Ah, Wilderness!

This play really does have some funny moments (two that jump to mind are the drunken ramblings of Richards Uncle Sid at the dinner table and the extremely awkward attempt by Nat to have a heart-to-heart talk with his son about sex), and the fact that ONeill was able to write it reveals that he had a good deal more breadth as a playwright than one might think. Its a very charming portrait of a sort of simple small-town life that was, as ONeill himself expressed it, how ONeill would have liked his life to be. Particularly Richards parents, though they do a couple of silly things for mild comedic effect, are fairly idealized in their treatment of Richard himself--stern when they think his behavior needs correcting but always understanding and supportive--leading one to believe that ONeill was to an extent trying to paint a picture of how he wishes his parents had treated him (as opposed to how they did treat him, as described a few years later in Long Days Journey into Night). In any case, ONeill showed with this play that he was just as adept at depicting life in a happy family as he was at depicting more tragic situations, and in doing so he provided posterity with a very entertaining comedy.

Incidentally, in addition to this version, "Ah, Wilderness!" is available, along with "A Touch of the Poet," "Hughie," and "A Moon for the Misbegotten," in the Modern Library compilation "The Later Plays of Eugene ONeill" (also sold by Amazon). That compilation is, at this writing, not much more expensive than this single-play volume and it ships sooner, so if youre also interested in one or more of the other plays in the Modern Library edition, its probably a better buy.