John Millington Synge is one of the most highly esteemed playwrights of the Irish literary renaissance of the early 20th century. Although he died just short of his 38th birthday and produced a modest number of works, his writings have made an impact on audiences, writers, and Irish culture. He is best known for his play ‘The Playboy of the Western World’, which caused riots in Dublin during its opening run at the Abbey Theatre, writes PADDY RYAN
Drama groups around the country are now rehearsing their next production. I have no doubt that several are deeply engaged in John Millington Synge’s ‘The Playboy of the Western World.’ Over the years, few Irish theatre festivals have been without a new production of it and many amateur actors have received awards for their interpretations of its larger-than-life characters.
One of the most exuberant dramas in the English language, it is some accolade for Synge that the ‘Playboy’ appears regularly and each performance appears as fresh as when the ink was drying on it. This is some turnabout from the first production, in January 1907, at the Abbey Theatre, Dublin when the police had to be called to quell the outrage that turned into a riot.
A black comedy, the Playboy’s hero, Christy Mahon, claiming to have killed his father, seeks refuge in a remote Mayo village. His fame spreads and he is an instant celebrity with the local girls clamouring for his attention. However, his heart is set on Pegeen Mike, the publican O’Flaherty’s daughter.
The lyrical language of the play seemed to carry the audience along to the point that after Act 1, Lady Gregory, co-founder of the Abbey, sent a telegram to W.B Yeats who was in Edinburgh, stating the ‘Playboy’ is a great success.’
It was a different story after Act 3 when she sent him another telegram stating ‘the play broke up in disorder at the word ‘shift.’ This was when Christy Mahon, declaring his love for Pegeen, says: ‘It’s Pegeen I’m seeking only and what’d I care if you brought me a drift of chosen females standing in their shifts, maybe from this place to the eastern world.’
Arthur Griffith, editor of the United Irishman newspaper and later very prominent in Irish politics, described the play as “a vile and inhuman story told in the foulest of language.”
While the pacifist, Francis Sheehy Skeffington objected to the riot, his anger was directed at W. B. Yeats for “his arrogant treatment of Dublin audiences on whom, he feels, he can inflict anything he wishes.”
It is noteworthy that the criticism and the rioting was not instigated by the poor but among those who could afford theatre tickets. The ‘Irish Independent’ claimed that the riots were ‘a tribute to the good taste and common sense of the audience.’
Continue reading in this week’s Ireland’s Own
