Artist The Playboy Of The Western World

When first performed in the early 1900s, playwright John Millington Synge’s black comedy was deemed immoral and indecent, its première even inspiring riots in Dublin and New York. These days, it’s little more than “dark,” but it’s no less fun. A young man named Christy Mahon wanders into a small Irish village claiming to have killed his father. Instead of being greeted with gasps and pointed fingers, he becomes a hero (with the womenfolk even trying to woo him). When Mahon’s story turns out to be a lie, he takes another crack at his old man with interesting results. Originally written as a satire of Irish mores and manners, it still stands today as a broad commentary on herd mentality. 

Updated 04/28/2010