New England Youth Theatre presents J.M. Synge- 'Playboy of the Western World'

New England Youth Theatre in Brattleboro, Vermont, presents "Playboy of the Western World" by J. M. Synge, which premiered at the Abbey Theatre in Dublin in 1907. The entire action of the play takes place in a rural seaside pub or shebeen, which is also the home of publican Michael Flaherty and his daughter Pegeen, over the course of an evening and the following day.

From director Peter Gould (petergouldvt@gmail.com): “Playboy of the Western World” is a living mix of broad physical comedy, luscious language, and sympathetic characters. Every scene glows with what we think of as traditional Irish special-ness: the love of lilting, rhythmic speech; the passionate dynamics of family ties; the closeness to a hard life in a hard land; the love of music and celebration, and the way any peasant farmer or fisherman can suddenly become a triumphant poet in the rough. It's no exaggeration to say that every well-known Irish comedy for the last hundred years has its roots in this one play.

At the New England Youth Theatre we’re committed to education: to supplementing the training-for-life that our student actors receive in their homes and schools. It has been a great opportunity for me to teach the company about Irish history, culture, belief systems, world influence—that specialness I just mentioned.

Our actors are young, from 13 to 17 years old, and all so open to stretching themselves far beyond the familiar. They have taken to these characters, to their folkways and their vocabulary. But more than that, they have dived right into this poor coastal community on the west coast of Ireland around the year 1890. They’ve made the story their own. They’ve shared ideas, with a "Let's try this,” or “how would it be to...?” Working together this way, we have rekindled the legendary love of Pegeen Mike and Christy Mahon. As a youthful and creative ensemble, we’ve tried to bring Synge’s characters back to life, I’m thinking, with a spirit he would have toasted.

If the playwright is looking down upon us, he'll see his famous work living again in Brattleboro, Vermont, more than a hundred years since its debut, when crowds of Dubliners filled the Abbey Theatre to see the play that caused such a scandal, the way that supporters and rioting detractors alike hurled hard language, hisses, and old vegetables at the stage and at each other, from the darkness of their seats.

THE CREW:
Director: Peter Gould
Costume Design: Phoebe Martel and Grace Leary
Set design: Peter Gould & Sandy Klein
Set construction: Rick Barron
Set decoration: Peter Gould & Sandy Klein
Lighting and Sound Design: Maria Pugnetti
THE CAST:
Pegeen Mike Flaherty... Miranda Fuller
Michael Flaherty, her father... Aiden Meyer
Shawn Keogh, her fiancé... Derrick Harnish
Jimmy Farrell, a friend... Cayden Leary
Philly Cullen, a friend... Casey Metcalfe
Eamon McBride, a friend... Joseph Meima
Christy Mahon, a young fugitive... Isaac Freitas-Egan
Old Mahon, Christy's father... Silas Holmes
The Widow Quin... Kyra Johnston
Sara Tansey, a village girl... Cassie Dunn
Susan Brady, a village girl... Alanna Ward
Nelly Blake, a village girl... Kaya Dean

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