A case of Synge out loud in Muckross

Hilarious scenes from the performance of the Playboy of the Western World: The Musical .
Pictures: Valerie O’Sullivan

ACTING royalty took centre stage in Killarney’s Muckross House for three nights when actress Kate O’Toole took on the role of narrator for The Playboy of the Western World: The Musical.

The mischievous adaptation of Synge’s classic was presented outdoors under canvas in the style of a 1950’s theatrical fit-up.

Power nap: Susan Motherway and her daughter Cora Givens at the performance

Joining Kate were 15 other actors and musicians for what was a raucous and rollicking reworking of Synge’s classic play which was re-imagined as a live radio radio show, broadcast in 1959.

The result was an engaging mélange of musical and theatrical genres and the actors allowed a strong comic element in the show without diminishing the lyrical beauty of the original text.

Pat Dawson (lleft) Manager, Killarney House and Gardens, and Dan Kelliher, former superintendent of Killarney National Park, at the performance

The outdoor, tented performance – produced by Maria Moynihan from Tralee – was one of the cultural highlights of the holiday season and it attracted a great attendance on Thursday, Frifay and Saturday.

Eilis McCarthy played Pegeen Mike with Eoin Ó Dubhghaill as the Playboy, Christy Mahon, Fred McCloskey as Michael James and Helen Gregg as the Widow Quin.

The Kerry connection: Maria Moynihan from Tralee (left), the producer of the Playboy of the Western World: The Musical, pictured with the cast

They were joined by Áine Ní Droighnean, Daniel Guinanne, Fia Rua, Muireann Ní Reaghaillaigh and Philip Sweeney.