National Theatre Live: The Playboy of the Western World

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National Theatre Live: The Playboy of the Western World

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2h 30m

Drama

Comedy

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1 Reviews

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Nicola Coughlan (Bridgerton) joins Éanna Hardwicke (The Sixth Commandment) and Siobhán McSweeney (Derry Girls) in John Millington Synge’s riveting play of youth and self-discovery. Pegeen Flaherty's life is turned upside down when a young man walks into her pub claiming that he's killed his father. Instead of being shunned, the killer becomes a local hero and begins to win hearts, that is until a second man unexpectedly arrives on the scene.... Filmed live on stage at the National Theatre, Caitríona McLaughlin directs this darkly funny tale full to the brim with secrets.

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Jane Freebury

The Canberra Times (Australia)

4d

3/5

It's a robust, dynamic production with well-known actors who give it their best up to the riotous fun of the final scenes, but the authentic accents of the dialogue won't be accessible to all. Good luck.

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Ghederick Eshmont

Jun 1

Very populist theatre, fun & dark with a rushed, empty end

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Tobb D

@TobbDelow May 31

This was so hard to understand that I left at intermission. Talking to other audience members, we could only dimly follow the story and were not sure if the entire production was even in English. The lead actor, , Éanna Hardwicke, looked like a younger skinnier Richard Kind, but with more mugging and hamminess. If I understand the script, his character is first presented as a criminal on the run, but is accepted immediately by the community. Maybe a more charismatic, less clownish, performance might have made sense of this. But it was just baffling. (Admittedly, this is based on the visuals alone since his dialog was the hardest to understand.) Maybe Irish audiences will have an easier time with this, but it was not something native English speakers will follow easily.

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Stephen C

@bob25009 May 29

Funny in 2.5 hours. Original and loving it.

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Caitriona McLaughlin

Director

Nicola Coughlan

Pegeen Mike

Lorcan Cranitch

Michael Flaherty

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Synopsis

Nicola Coughlan (Bridgerton) joins Éanna Hardwicke (The Sixth Commandment) and Siobhán McSweeney (Derry Girls) in John Millington Synge’s riveting play of youth and self-discovery. Pegeen Flaherty's life is turned upside down when a young man walks into her pub claiming that he's killed his father. Instead of being shunned, the killer becomes a local hero and begins to win hearts, that is until a second man unexpectedly arrives on the scene.... Filmed live on stage at the National Theatre, Caitríona McLaughlin directs this darkly funny tale full to the brim with secrets.

Director: Caitriona McLaughlin
Screenwriter: John Millington Synge
Distributor: National Theatre Live
Production Co: National Theatre
Genre: Drama, Comedy
Original Language: British English
Release Date (Theaters): May 28, 2026, Limited
Runtime: 2h 30m