The Emperor Jones, a play by Eugene O'Neill at the Irish Repertory Theatre, starring John Douglas Thompson. Though the play is expanded time wise by the introduction of a lot of African style puppetry (when will these Julie Taymor inspired stagings become a cliche?), the play rises and falls on the performance of John Douglas Thompson. He does his best, he rants and rages, he shows fear, contrition. He's a bad guy who succumbs to fear and to witchcraft. It's a fine performance but not even Paul Robeson could make The Emperor Jones a repertory staple and neither does Thompson because despite all the gimmickry of the staging, it's a very thin piece. It belongs on a program with something else to balance it. All eight of the members of our theater group had expected this to be something special because of the rave reviews this production has received. Certainly this is a historic play as it launched the career of the man who is arguably America's greatest playright. But this is no Long Days Journey into Night, and by itself, we all felt it's not worth a commute, although if you have eighty mintues to spare and you live nearby, you could do worse. Broadway Bridge and Tunnel Test Grade C+