The Washington herald., 1911-11-16
THE PLAYBOY' SEEN
AT THE BBLASCO
SOmbre Synge Play Wins
Favor.

There is the grimness and the desola-
ton of "EIektra" in THE Playboy Of the
Western World" presented at the Be
lasco last evening by the Irish Players
If you care to take 1t that way. One may
grant to the late John NJ. Synge the
riotous. imperious imagination CT an Ed
gar Allan Poe, a reveler in the weird
Ii nd the uncanny, or may think of him
as a modern mystic interpreting the soul
of wild, untan1ed peasantry with naked
and brooding insistence on the darker
side of their lives.
THE Playboy of the Western World
is the most striking play in the roper
toire of the Irish Players, and is largely
responsible for the clamorous and tur-
bulent opposition they have encountered
from those who know only the romance
and the ideal!sm of the Emerald Isle.
Truly, tits not a pretty thing. Only as
an eerie Celtic Jest, worship of strength
and contempt for the law, can II be
thought of otherwise than as ugly, hide
GUS, and repulsive.
Proud of Parricidc.
Christy Mahon, hero of the play. cracks
his fathers skull open with a shovel
and fees from Mayo to escape the law.
He is proud of his deed, proud that he
has shaken of parental tyranny, proud
that he has proved his strength. He
comes to Flaherys public house after a
long journey from the scene of his
crime, and wins the hearts OF the Irish
lassies by his boastful tale of parricide.
Margaret Flahery, called 'Pegeen Mike, 4"
Is the girl determined to have him for
herself.
Then the elder Mahon. who survived
the blow that Christy struck him. ar
rives in search OF his errant son. Hero
worship of Christy changes to contempt
and he is denounced as a weakling. In
another wild rage Christy again attempts
to murder his father, and again fails
He succeeds, however, in quelling the
wild spirits Of the men and women who
denounce him, and goes on his way as a
wanderer, calling himself the playboy
of the western world" And Margaret
weeps over losing him.
AS Synge unfolds the tale, II possesses
certain fascination by its very eeri-
ness. 1t has such an utter disregard
for the customary idealism of the stage
that II is gripping. The audience. which
was one of the largest that has greeted
impossible to take Synge's characters as
real, fesh-and- blood people. 1t frankly
laughed at Christy and his naive tale Of
parricIde. From the first II caught the
proper spirit of the play. There was no
shivering and crashing of teeth over the
continuous strain OF blood-lust In the
drama The peasants were regarded as
children who knew the rule of clan
loyalty and had the Unborn Celtic con-
tempt for the law.
Players Given Applause.
Despite some expectation to the con-
trary, there was not the slightest out
burst or demonstration against The
Playboy." At the fall of every curtain
the players were greeted with a very
gratifying measure Of applause. The
drama was acted with more spirit and
with more effectiveness than any of its
predecessors. Fred O'Donovan, as Chris
ty, gave a particularly satisfying por-
tr2yaI. Miss Eithne MaGee played oppo-
site him in the role of Pegeen Mike in
delightful fashion. Sara Allgood was
the Widow QuIn to the life, with all her
spitefulness and jealousy. Sydney J.
Morgan played the elder Mahon in vivid
outline, and J. A. O'Rourke gave a fin
ished impersonation of Shawn Keough.
Eileen O'Dohery. as Sara Tansey: Marie
nj Shlubhlaigh. as Susan Brady, and
Cathleen Nesbit, as Honora Brady, were
all satisfactory.
A brief one-act tragedy by Lady Greg
DRY, THE Jail Gate" preceded THE
Playboy," and made a good impression
with its humor and it's flashes of char
acter study.