The Playboy of the Western World and Other Plays

By J.M. Synge, Edna O'Brien and Robert Welch

Though he completed only five plays in his short lifetime, J. M. Synge, co-founder of the Abbey Theater, ranks as one of Ireland’s greatest playwrights. Rescuing the Irish peasant from a romanticized stereotype, his plays capture the essence of the Irish spirit in both his realistic characters and his unique language.
 
In the Shadow of the Glen
Synge’s first play (1903), based on an Irish folktale, combines the macabre with broad comedy, as an elderly husband fakes his death to test his discontented young wife’s fidelity.
 
Rider to the Sea
The greatest short tragedy in modern drama, this moving one-act play from 1904 depicts a peasant woman who has lost her husband and sons, one by one, to the raging sea.
 
The Playboy of the Western World
Synge’s satirical masterpiece, produced in 1907, is one of the great comedies of Irish life. A young stranger enraptures villagers with claims of killing his father. In classic Synge style it combines the real versus the fanciful, the traditional versus the individual.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Penguin Group
• Release date: Mar 7, 2006
• ISBN: 9781101154007

Reviews for The Playboy of the Western World and Other Plays

[bhowell_35 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

These are wonderful plays by one of Ireland's greatist writers. The Playboy of the Western World alone is worth reading. Remember when you read it that this play was a scandal when first produced and in the 1920's there were riots in Dublin. Add this masterpiece to your 'banned books list". I had of course heard of this play but discovered it in 2004 when we were in Dublin and it was playing at the National Theatre. The production was brilliant and the play was so funny and true. My husband laughed so much that we had to go to the bookstore the next day and he bought this book. He read the play and laughed some more. Our children who were with us also loved it . We were fortunate that at the same time we were able to see a production of a recent play by Colm Toibin that was about bringing "Playboy" to the stage. Again, fascinating.

[thebooknerd · Rating: 2 out of 5 stars]

I don't enjoy reading plays, which is likely the reason why I rated this as only a 2-star book. Reading preferences aside, the plays are entertaining. If read this in a class setting -- as I did -- there's a lot of wonderful material here to analyze and discuss.