|
J.M. Synge 7 m, 5 f Int. Synge's evocative play of Irish country life scandalized the public at the premiere in 1907. Branded indecent and salacious, Synge's most celebrated play is actually quite charming and timeless as it follows the travails of the hapless Christopher 'Christy' Mahon, who during a quarrel, strikes his father with a spade and leaves him for dead. Taking it on the lam, he finds his way to a village pub where his deed makes him a hero. Young Pegeen Mike and the Widow Quin fall under the romantic spell of this self-styled "only playboy of the Western World" and agressively vie for his affections. The police ('peelers') finally come, not for the worthless Christy but for his father who is not-quite-dead-only-wounded and on the lam himself. Christy escapes his Da's thrashing by the pub denizens who want their own revenge against this braggart "playboy". "A work of art....Preserves the fresh music of country speech."-The New York Times Published in The Complete Plays of SyngeFEE: NONE
|
