‘the beautiful flow of the prose is like poetry in motion’
Director Caitríona McLaughlin’s bold take on Synge’s unromanticised comic portrayal of a farming community in the West of Ireland is inspired and a crowning glory in every sense with this atmospheric and spellbinding, fiery yet comic, production.
Pegeen Flaherty’s (Nicola Coughlan) life is turned upside down when on a normal day, a young man walks into her unlicensed pub claiming that he’s killed his father. Whilst her fiancé, Shawn Keogh (Marty Rea), is alarmed, her father, Michael (Lorcan Cranitch) and his cronies, Jimmy Farrell (Naoise Dunbar) and Philly Cullen (Matthew Forrest), see it merely as the opportunity for them to get away to a distant wake whilst leaving a tough guy to help mind the bar so to speak.
In fact, instead of being shunned, the killer, Christy Mahon (Éanna Hardwicke), becomes a local hero, winning the heart not only of the Widow Quin (Siobhán McSweeney) but also young girls Sara (Marty Breen), Susan (Megan Cusack), Nelly (Sallay Garnett), and Honor (Fionnuala Gygax), as he embeds himself into village life.
That is until a second man (Declan Conlon) unexpectedly arrives on the scene…
There is strong ensemble support throughout from Susan Akintomide and Donncha O’Dea with Erin Hennessey on the fiddle and Peter Mooney on the banjo.
Being performed in its original, melodic Hiberno-English dialect adds a real authenticity to the production and whilst some have complained of struggling to understand it – the dialectic West of Ireland accent is thicker in tone – the adoption of surtitles/subtitles is an accepted and widely used industry fix, because quite frankly, the beautiful flow of the prose is like poetry in motion, matched by some wonderful on-stage choreography from Movement Director Sue Mythen and Fight Director Kev McCurdy, that blends seamlessly with Adrienne Quartly’s captivating sound design and composer Anna Mullarkey’s haunting melodies.
Katie Davenport’s staging and costume design is excellent in its authenticity with a clever stage split to reflect the spirit of both the pub and the rural landscape beyond and which succinctly captured the intrigue and intricacies of a remote farming community and all that entails including the folkloric tradition of mumming, whilst James Farncombe’s lighting design sensitively enhances the mood and emotion of each unfolding scene.
All the cast perform strongly, and I was completely engaged from the start. The opening act is ninety minutes in duration, but it flew by in an instant, because of the consummate delivery of the rich language on offer, a powerful on-stage chemistry between cast, and the perfect balance between the dramatic and the comic aspects of the personas and behaviours on display.
Whilst it is natural to focus on the lead performers, I must highlight Cranitch’s spirited and entertaining publican and father, Rea’s sympathetic portrayal of the braying Shawn, Conlan’s revengeful ‘stranger’ with an eye on the next drink, and Breen’s overall on-stage presence as Sara, as being particularly enjoyable and memorable.
Much is made of television actors struggling to transition to theatre but there was no such concern here, with McSweeney excelling as the mischievous widow with a skilled performance that was able to take us beneath the boldness to highlight deeper vulnerabilities, whilst Coughlan similarly excelled, capturing the fierceness of Pegeen and demonstrating a great mastery of the wordplay with a performance that was absolutely mesmerising throughout.
Hardwicke is superb as Christy, delightfully capturing the multi-faceted aspects of character as he shifts with some dexterity from guilt and trauma through to heroic confidence in an impressive and comprehensive all-round performance.
Whilst The Playboy of the Western World has undoubtedly inspired many playwrights including Butterworth, McPherson, and McDonagh in more recent times, it is an absolute pleasure to see it performed so well in its own right: whether on-stage or an encore live transmission, go and see it – this is what real theatre is all about.
Review Date: 6th June 2026
Star Rating: FIVE