The Playboy of the Western World – National Theatre Live – Review
by Frank L.

The Playboy of the Western World – written by John Millington Synge

National Theatre Live – At the Lighthouse Cinema and selected cinemas nationwide.

The Playboy of the Western World, set on the Mayo coast, premiered on 26th January 1907 at the fledgling Abbey Theatre to a riotous reception. In the intervening years, it has become a classic and acclaimed internationally. In this iteration, it is performed at the Lyttelton Theatre, part of the National Theatre, situated in London. It is directed by Caitriona McLaughlin, the current Artistic Director of the Abbey. It is written in Synge’s Hiberno-English poetic style, and appropriately, the cast is predominantly Irish.

The action takes place in the pub of Michael Flaherty (Lorcan Cranitch), which is ruled over by his daughter, the fiery Pegeen Mike (Nicola Coughlan). She is the intended, at least in her father’s eyes, of the cautious, priest-fearing Shawn Keogh (Marty Rea). Into this conventional, predictable space arrives a young man, who is far from sure of himself, one Christy Mahon (Eanna Hardwicke). He tells his story of how he came to be walking the roads. He embellishes it somewhat by saying he has killed his father while cutting turf with a lay. This makes him an object of considerable interest to Pegeen Mike, the other villagers and the recently widowed but flirtatious Widow Quin. He becomes, in short order, a figure of intrigue and admiration to the entire community. In modern parlance, he becomes a celebrity in this tight-knit community. His stock rises even further when he demonstrates he is a rider of considerable skill at the races which take place on the strand below Flaherty’s pub. He is a figure of romance with a smell of cordite and consequent danger about him, but the story of his wild past is a fabrication, and the arrival of a stranger brings the truth to bear.

The language of Synge’s script is at the heart of the play, and the entire cast delivers Synge’s lines with passion. They are all at one with his rhythmic use of words, and their delivery of the words seems to be entirely natural and matter-of-fact. The occasional appearance of a couple of mummer-like figures reminds the audience that these events occurred in a different time and place. The set is of conventional form, with plain wooden tables and chairs dotted around the stage, the back wall lighting varied at times to create a sense of an interior space and at other times to situate the action on the verge of a strand facing the Atlantic. It works seamlessly.

The costumes need to be very different to modern style, with the period and their impoverished lifestyle. In this instance, they seem to fit the bill except for Christy Mahon’s attire in the final scenes. The geometrically patterned shorts and the shiny olive green top, diagonally striped with grey, make for a bizarre costume. Notwithstanding this attire, Hardwicke remains assured.

National Theatre Live permits a wide audience to savour various first-rate productions which appear on the London stage, making them available in cinemas in many locations.  It is a great collaboration between the world of theatre and of cinema. Here is an opportunity to see a fine production of a great play, which continues to enthral over a hundred years after it was first performed.