The Playboy of the Western World

by John Millington Synge

Overview

The best known of all Irish plays.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781854592101
Publisher:	Theatre Communications Group
Publication date:	11/01/1997
Series:	Drama Classics
Edition description:	New Edition
Pages:	128
Product dimensions:	4.10(w) x 6.20(h) x 0.20(d)

About the Author

John Millington Synge (1871-1909) is widely regarded as the greatest ever Irish dramatist. The lives of the people of Connemara and the Aran Islands were brought to life through his six great plays: In The Shadow of the Glen (1903), Riders to the Sea (1904), The Well of the Saints (1905), The Playboy of the Western World (1907), The Tinkers' Wedding (1908), and his unfinished mythological drama Deirdre of the Sorrows (performed posthumously in 1910).

Christopher Collins is Associate Professor of Drama at the University of Nottingham, UK. He received his Ph.D from Trinity College Dublin and works primarily on the plays of J.M. Synge. His publications include contributing to The Palgrave Handbook of Contemporary Irish Theatre and Performance and J.M. Synge's The Playboy of the Western World.

Table of Contents

Chronology vii

Commentary 1

Contexts 2

Social, Economic and Political Contexts 2

Cultural Context 4

Themes 7

Class 7

Gender and Sexuality 8

Religion 8

Mental Health 9

Dramatic Devices 10

Style and Structure 10

Setting 13

Characterization 14

Language 16

Production History 18

Premiere 18

Significant Revivals and Adaptations 19

Critical Reception 21

Academic Debate 23

Further Study 24

Notes 26

The Playboy of the Western World 29

Notes on the Text 96

Editorial Reviews

This award-winning audio producer's latest effort reprises the critically acclaimed Pacific Resident Theatre's full-cast production of Synge's Irish comedic classic, starring Orson Bean, Alexander Enberg, and Jacqueline Heinze. The author's 1907 wickedly satiric masterpiece is a trenchant attack on the acceptance of appearances in a small Irish village. Christy Mahon turns up at the home of Michael Flaherty and his daughter, Peegen Mike, and is accepted by the town as a hero following his boastful story of murdering his tyrannical father. The town, especially the women, is seduced by Christy but ultimately turns savagely against him when his "slain" father appears looking for his son. The language is beautifully poetic and lush while being firmly grounded in the colloquial idioms and dialect of rural Ireland. The cast is, without exception, outstanding, and Bean is a delight. The technical quality is consistent with L.A. Theatre Works' high standards of professional excellence. A real gem.--Barry X. Miller, Austin P.L., TX Copyright 2000 Cahners Business Information.

Library Journal

An informed and fresh perspective on a well-known canonical play ... by a leading scholar on Synge.” —Dr Chris Megson, Royal Holloway, University of London, UK

“A clear and intelligently mapped out guide to a canonical Anglo-Irish drama, which provides all the necessary religious, social and cultural information to ensure students of all backgrounds can access the text” —Jenny Stevens

From the Publisher