W&L’s Lenfest Center’s Outreach & Engagement (O&E) Series announces the screening of National Theatre Live’s “The Playboy of the Western World,” a 2025 production of the famous Irish dark comedy by John Millington Synge, on Tuesday, Oct. 20, at 7 p.m. at Stackhouse Theater in Elrod Commons.
Filmed live from Lyttelton Theater in London and directed by Caitríona McLaughlin, the play featured famous names such as Nicola Coughlan (“Bridgerton”), Éanna Hardwicke (“The Sixth Commandment)” and Siobhán McSweeney (“Derry Girls”).
Running time is 150 minutes with a 15-minute interval.
When “The Playboy of the Western World” first premiered at the Abbey Theater in Dublin, Ireland, in January 1907, Synge’s work sparked a huge controversy, even causing riots and protests among nationalist audiences who felt insulted by the Irish portrayals in the play.
However, the work is considered an important literary piece within the Irish Literary Revival movement — having influenced many writers of that period — and is now celebrated for Synge’s lyrical use of Hiberno-English (the Irish version of English, influenced by Gaelic).
The story is set in a small village on the west coast of Ireland during the early 1900s, following the character of Christy Mahon, a young man who stumbled into a local pub and claimed to have killed his father. The villagers quickly got captivated by Christy’s story and made him a hero, which caught the attention of the local publican’s daughter, Pegeen Mike. But when Christy’s father unexpectedly showed up alive, Christy now had to find a way to live up to his myths.
More than a century later, McLaughlin’s production brings Synge’s dark comedy to a more contemporary audience while still preserving the play’s distinctive language, humor and social commentary — which made the original so provocative and transcendent of its time. The play went further into the themes of identity, heroism, self-discovery and the power of storytelling.
Tickets are required. Ticket prices are $20 for general admission and $8 for students. Online ticket sales are available at the Lenfest website: https:// my.wlu.edu/lenfest-center/ ntl-the-playboy-of-the-western- world.
Tickets can also be purchased on the night of the screening onsite at the Stackhouse Theatre.
The box office is open for in-person sales from Monday through Friday, 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. Patrons can contact the box office by calling (540) 458-8000 or emailing boxoffice@ wlu.edu.
The National Theatre Live is sponsored in part by Class of ’64 Performing Arts Fund.
