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John Millington Synge’s The Playboy of the Western World is a work rich in significance and open to varied interpretation. In his programme notes, Christopher Collins views the play through the contemporary lens of the global migrant crisis and society’s fascination with celebrity. Yet Christy Mahon’s (Christ as Man) symbolic killing of his father, who returns with amusing regularity, also invites a reading of the play as a religious satire in which Synge advances a vision of bold and irreverent humanism. In many respects, this is a radically innovative piece of writing that challenges both social expectations and the established conventions of comedy. This current National Theatre production preserves much of the original’s force and the stark and lyrical set vividly conjures the atmosphere of the west of Ireland. As the eponymous hero, Éanna Hardwicke convincingly portrays the timid youth who, through the fantasies of the townspeople, discovers his identity and is reborn as a figure of daring. Hardwicke speaks Synge’s resonant poetic language with a fluency that allows it to feel both entirely natural and exhilarating. As Christy’s love interest, Pegeen Mike, Nicola Coughlan delivers a performance that captures her character’s fierce spirit and resolute independence. Unfortunately however, her projection early in the play caused several lines to fade and her iconic final utterance was overwhelmed by her wailing. Siobhán McSweeney is simply exceptional as the calculating and seductive Widow Quin. It is a role she seems destined to play. Katie Davenport’s costumes range from impressively authentic to oddly anachronistic. It seems improbable that Christy would have a racing shirt, and even less likely that it would be fashioned from a material unavailable in the early twentieth century. Caitríona McLaughlin’s direction offers an otherwise clear and sensitive interpretation of the story, though the frequent use of the Strawboys becomes an unnecessary distraction. Despite such reservations however, this latest production provides a compelling opportunity to savour Synge’s exquisite language and to reflect on the depth and daring of his ideas.
Rated: ★★★★
Reviewed by J.C.
Photo by Marc Brenner
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