THE Playboy of the Western
World as performed today is light years away from the production which caused
riots on its opening week in Dublin in 1907.THE Playboy of the Western
World as performed today is light years away from the production which caused
riots on its opening week in Dublin in 1907.
Then crowds reacted angrily to what was perceived to be an indecent play which mocked national stereotypes. Now it is regarded as a modern classic - a play full of rich language from an era long gone.
For the Company of Ten to take on a play which relies on the entire cast adopting Irish accents is a bold step.
Director David Stone has admitted that evoking the proper sound of Mayo, where the play is set in a shebeen on the Irish west coast, was not simple even though many of the cast are Irish.
So it is to their credit that they manage to be as convincing as they are and the production, played out on one of the best and most authentic sets the Company of Ten has devised for some time, is as good as it is.
The only reservation I have is that I felt the difficulties in retaining the accent meant a lot of lines were delivered at a speed which could have caused a proportion of the audience to miss some of J.M. Synge's glorious language.
Steve Cunningham, one of the Company of Ten's finest actors, takes the part of the Playboy, Christy Mahon. He develops the character through a range of emotions from self-pity to overriding confidence before he reveals himself not to be the man the villagers believe he is.
Dennis O'Connell-Baker provides the perfect foil as his father, Old Mahon, who is a looming presence in the second half of the play. Fiona Lester takes the role of Pegeen Mike who falls for the charms of Christy whom she sees as her way of escaping from her humdrum life in the shebeen and forthcoming marriage. Her confident performance ends on a note of sheer despair.
The play is billed as a tragi-comedy and most of the latter comes from Sue Russell's Widow Quin, who also fixes her beady eye on Christy with comic results.
Her accent might not be the most convincing in the production but she is so relaxed and comfortable in the role that it does not matter.
No-one watching The Playboy of the Western World could doubt the commitment and determination of all involved to make it a memorable production.
MADELEINE BURTON
© Herts Advertiser November 2004. Reproduced by permission