a narcissistic and a possessive father who is envious
of his son
growing independence.
Mahon's (the father ) conviction is that Christy (the son) is and ALWAYS be a fool, liar and a dribbling idiot who is beaten into submission

he couldn't believe then that his son could be that likely man or that cham

I read this play in anticipation of seeing it performed at the Teatro Nacional D. Maria II in Lisbon. I do not speak more than a dozen or so words of Portuguese (Obrigada, cafe com leite, vegetariano, etc.), so I needed the head start. Unfortunately, I am not able to comment on the dramaturgical com

Playful and wonderfully irreverent, I can honestly understand why it would have been despised by certain audiences when it was published. Its central focus of a young man who is praised by a community for allegedly killing his father with a shovel is certainly one that would have been looked upon wi

Synge's The Playboy of the Western World must be an Irish classic.

Set in County Mayo during the early 1900s, Synge tells the story of Christy Mahon, traveler escaping psuedo-mysterious past and claiming he killed his father, his Da.

I think that in the context of the Irish culture exploration, this

This play becomes more and more fascinating upon rereading it. J.M. Synge came from a Protestant, Anglo-Irish background, and wrote a play about Irish country life that shocked and offended its audiences to the point of riots- many would say rightly so. It utilizes dramatic Irish stereotypes that mo

To say that it is better to see a play than to read it seems obvious. But the hearing of the play, the words, the dialogue, the accents, the intonations, that's what brings the play to life. That's especially true with this play because the distinct language and delivery is really the star of the sh

A young man from a far away village appears in Flaherty's tavern claiming that he is on the run because he killed his own father. With the tale growing in the telling, the Christy becomes a local hero, attracting Flaherty's daughter Pegeen's attention…until his father shows up and is very much alive

How can I help but love Ireland? For example, how can you not love a nation that values both popular theater and “Irish womanhood” so highly that a new comedy—with “scandalous” depictions of Irish women--can cause a riot? And, no, I don’t mean a “laugh riot.” I mean a real honest-to-Jesus in-the-the

This play caused riots back in the day and its celebration of the benefits of patricide might still raise plenty of eyebrows today. It took me a while to get accustomed to the mix of rural Irish dialect and poetic phrases, but there's a real richness to the language once you're properly immersed. Sy

I am glad that I both listened and read this play. This full cast recording by L.A. Theatre Works was excellent, but didn't include stage directions or descriptions. It is a radio play rather than an audiobook in that regard. I loved hearing the Irish accented voices but I would have missed a little