Date: 25 June 2017
Location: Bob & Linda
Our reading this month was different from our normal fare: it was the famous play The Playboy of the Western World by Irish playwright J. M. Synge.
Several of us had just returned from a two-week tour of Ireland, and perhaps we saw the play slightly differently as a result. In fact, at one of our dinners on the tour we had a lecture from a professor of Irish literature who mentioned Synge as a key player in the Irish literary movement early in the 20th century lead primarily by W. B. Yeats.
When first performed the play was highly controversial, with its premier performance in 1907 resulting in riots, mainly by Irish nationalists outraged at the unfavorable depiction of the common Irish people. The controversy settled down, however, and Playboy is now considered Synge’s masterwork of humor and irony.
The play centers on a young man Christy Mahon, who has ‘killed his da’ and is on the run. He enters a small village pub, and, when he explains what he has done to the attractive barmaid, Pegeen Mike, he is treated as a hero. Word gets out and all the local girls as well as an older widow are also attracted to this daring stranger. The next day Christy participates in and wins a racing contest, and Pegeen Mike decides to dump her milk toast boyfriend for Christy. But alas, Christy’s father then shows up, with a bad head injury but definitely not dead. The father and son have words, and the dispute moves off stage where Christy kills his father again! The villagers are aghast and turn on Christy, tying him up and preparing to hand him over to the authorities. But, Christy’s father shows up once again–still not dead! The father and son reconcile and depart together, with Pegeen Mike bemoaning, “I’ve lost the only Playboy of the Western World”.
The play was difficult for most of us probably because of the language and the many unfamiliar words and expressions. Someone commented that at least it was short, to which Gary responded that may be but he had to read every line twice and still didn’t know what was going on. While there were certainly elements of humor and irony in the play, most of us just didn’t get it and thought it rather stupid or silly.
The biggest surprise in our discussions, at least to me, was to learn that Linda D.’s daughter was named after the play’s barmaid–Pegeen Mike. I knew her daughter’s name was Pegeen but had no idea that it was really Pegeen Mike and that her name came from the character in the play. How cool is that!
When many of us don’t care for a particular reading, we take great pleasure in criticizing the person who recommended it. However, John, who suggested the play, took the somewhat cowardly act of going on a trip out west–clearly to avoid our opprobrium. As we discussed his absence and what to do about it, Marion had the most direct suggestion, “Don’t let John recommend anymore books!”
— Bob