Reviewed Friday 8th November 2013
John Millington Synge's most famous play,
The Playboy of the Western World, was first staged at
The Abbey Theatre in 1907, and caused riots. Over a century later this black comedy is recognised as a classic piece of theatre and it is the current production for Independent Theatre at the Odeon Theatre, Norwood. It has not been performed in Adelaide for over thirty years, so this is a rare chance to see this play.
Michael James Flaherty owns a pub in County Mayo, on Ireland's west coast, but it is his daughter, Pegeen, who has the job of keeping it running while he and his two drinking friends, Philly Cullen and Jimmy Farrell, attend wakes and get drunk. Worse, for Pegeen, is her father's insistence that she marry her second cousin, Shawn Keogh, a dreary, spineless creature for whom she has no love, but she has accepted the inevitable and as they play begins we find her making a list of materials for her wedding dress.
Into this predictable life bursts
Christy Mahon, in an agitated state, claiming that he has killed his drunken and abusive father by hitting him on the head with a shovel, in self defence. Instead of being handed over to the police, he finds that he has gained their respect and is an instant celebrity. Michael and his cronies, eager to head to a wake, decide that Pegeen will be safe in the care of this brave young man, and depart, but it is not long before word has got around and the widow Quin, who is suspected of having killed her husband, comes to call with the intention of taking Christy for herself. Pegeen, however, sends her packing.
In the morning four of the local girls arrive, giggling and carrying on like a rock star's groupies, bringing food for Christy. Widow Quin also arrives for a second attempt at getting her hands on Christy, telling Pegeen that her livestock has got loose to get her out of the pub, and sending the girls on their way. This is when things start to go wrong for Christy, with his father, Old Mahon, arriving, badly injured by the shovel, but still alive and furiously seeking his wayward son.
Michael Pole is marvellous as the alcoholic Michael Flaherty, bringing his considerable experience in both dramatic and comedic roles to his character, combining convincing drunkenness with the hilarity. Angus Henderson and Alex Daly are his two fellow imbibers, Philly and Jimmy, contributing plenty of laughs as they make up the balance of the comic trio.
Catherine Hancock is Michael's daughter, Pegeen, a hard working young woman facing an uneventful, emotionless life, suddenly presented with a completely different possibility, which is then taken away from her. Hancock brings a full range of emotions to the role, right up to her final, poignant realisation that she had lost "the only playboy of the western world."
Will Cox plays Christy, who enters as a frightened nobody, only to find that the townspeople have reinvented him as a folk hero. He takes their lead and assumes the role that they have assigned him, but quickly reverts to his former self when he encounters his father. Cox takes us through all of those transitions, displaying Christy's bewilderment, acceptance of his changed state, his greater self-confidence, his fear of his father, and his growing love for Pegeen.
Jared Gerschwitz plays the devious and jealous Shawn, desperate to be rid of Christy so that Pegeen has no other choice than to marry him. Gerschwitz makes Shawn a thoroughly awful man that leaves the audience caught between laughing and cringing. Shawn enlists the aid of the Widow Quin, played by Tracey Walker, who makes full use of the opportunities for fun offered by the role of the larger than life man eater.
David Roach plays Old Mahon, Christy's father, a gem of a role for any character actor, and he doesn't waste a moment of the time that he spends on stage, filling the character with energetic physical comedy. The four farm girls are played with lively enthusiasm by Anna Bampton, Georgia Penglis, Grace Berwald, and Emma Bleby.
Director, Rob Croser keep the pace fast and has placed focus on developing the various characters and their relationships. The design by Croser and David Roach, brings the outside in, with the interior of the pub painted as a seascape. It has some clever features and the furnishings look great. Matthew Marciniak's lighting sets it all off.
In the first act a number of the cast needed more projection, as they were hard to hear towards the rear of the auditorium, and accents and diction also needed some work, with friends from County Clare admitting that even they were having trouble following it. After the interval this had all improved so, possibly, word had been passed on and one can assume that with a few more runs under their belts this would have been well remedied.
Don't forget, it is over thirty years since this work was produced in Adelaide, so catch it while you have the chance, as it could be a long time before it turns up again.
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