Play 2, 2008

The Playboy of the Western World

by J M Synge

Directed by Leo Wockner

The Play

A classic Irish comic drama

A sweeping Irish tale, set in Michael Flaherty's public house, in County Mayo during the early 1900s.

It tells the story of Christy Mahon, a young man running away from his farm, claiming he killed his father. The locals are more interested in vicariously enjoying his story than in condemning the morality of his murderous deed. He captures the romantic attention of the bar-maid Pegeen Mike, the daughter of Flaherty.

The favourite play of Fr Hanrahan the founder of Villanova Players.

The Playwright

John Millington Synge was an Irish playwright, poet, prose writer, and collector of folklore. He was one of the cofounders of the Abbey Theatre. He is best known for this play "The Playboy of the Western World", which caused riots during its opening run at the Abbey theatre. He wrote many famous stories like "Riders to the Sea" which is often considered to be his best literary work.

Synge's plays helped set the Abbey house style for the following four decades. The stylised realism of his writing was reflected in the training given at the theatre's school of acting, and plays of peasant life were the main staple of the repertoire until the end of the 1950s. Sean O'Casey, the next major dramatist to write for the Abbey, knew Synge's work well and attempted to do for the Dublin working classes what his predecessor had done for the rural poor.

Suffering from Hodgkin's disease, Synge died just weeks short of his 38th birthday.

The Director

Leo Wockner has been a member of the Villanova Players for many years and a popular Brisbane theatre identity. He is well known as an actor, director and artists’ advocate whose recent Brisbane stage appearances include "Oedipus the King" for the Queensland Theatre Company in 2006. Leo last directed for the Players in 2003, producing the hilarious comedy "Allo Allo"