John Millington Synge

John Millington Synge (April 16, 1871 - March 24, 1909) was an Irish dramatist, poet, prose writer, and collector of folklore. He was a key figure in the Irish Literary Revival and was one of the cofounders of the Abbey Theatre. He is best known for the play The Playboy of the Western World, which caused riots in Dublin during its opening run at the Abbey.

First plays

In 1903, Synge left Paris and moved to London. He had written two one-act plays, Riders to the Sea and The Shadow of the Glen the previous year. These met with Lady Gregory's approval and The Shadow of the Glen was performed at the Molesworth Hall in October 1903. Riders to the Sea was performed at the same venue in February the following year. The Shadow of the Glen, under the title In the Shadow of the Glen, formed part of the bill for the opening run of the Abbey Theatre from December 27, 1904 to January 3, 1905.

Related Topics:
1903 - London - December 27 - 1904 - January 3 - 1905

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Both plays were based on stories Synge had collected on the Aran Islands. The Shadow of the Glen was based on a story of an unfaithful wife and was attacked in print by Irish nationalist leader Arthur Griffith as 'a slur on Irish womanhood'. Riders to the Sea was also attacked by nationalists, this time Patrick Pearse, who decried it because of the author's attitude to God and religion. Despite these attacks, the plays are now part of the canon of English language theatre. A third one-act play, The Tinker?s Wedding was drafted around this time, but Synge made no attempt to have it performed at this time, largely because of a scene where a priest is tied up in a sack, which, as he wrote to the publisher Elkin Mathews in 1905, would probably upset ?a good many of our Dublin friends?.

Related Topics:
Irish nationalist - Arthur Griffith - Patrick Pearse - English language - Elkin Mathews - 1905

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