The Playboy of the Western World - John Millington Synge

Act/scene	characters	setting	action	atmosphere etc.	
I	Pegeen Mike (Margaret Flaherty, daughter of publican), Shawn Keogh (her second cousin, a young farmer),  Michael James Flaherty (her father), Jimmy Farrell (small farmer), Philly O’Cullen (dto.), Christy Mahon (the “playboy”), Widow Quin,  	country public house, late evening/night	Pegeen and Shawn talk about their wedding, need consent of Father Reilly, Shawn doesn’t want to stay with Pegeen alone (Christian), everyone’s at a wake, Shawn has heard someone outside, Christy Mahon comes in, tells a story of killing his father, Pegeen persuades her father to make him pot-boy so that she is not alone, Christy stays, widow Quin tries to persuade Christy to come along with her	rural, earthy, ”typical Irish”, (Christian values), strange idea of manliness (killer), wake  drink, Christy introduced 	
II	Christy, Susan, Sara, Honor, Nelly (village girls), widow Quin, Pegeen, Shawn, Old Mahon	same as before, morning	Christy wakes up, is delighted with his situation, girls come in to look at him (word has gone out about the father-killer), Widow Quin appears, tries to win him over again, Shawn tries to bribe him and tells him he wants to wed Pegeen, he sends Pegeen away with an excuse (goat escaped) to talk to Christy alone, Shawn leaves, suddenly Christy’s allegedly dead father appears, Widow Quin is filled in, promises to help Christy, sends father away	conspiracy, intrigues, deception, (typical comedy setting), Christy’s true identity revealed, (fool, nobody, lazy...)	
III	Jimmy, Philly, Widow Quin, Old Mahon, Pegeen, Michael, Christy, Shawn, Sara, other villagers, 	same as before, later in the day	Jimmy and Philly meet Old Mahon in the pub, he tells his story about his son who hit him with the loy and ran away, etc. Widow Quin tries to establish a rumour that Mahon is a raving madman mistaking Christy for his own son. Christy meanwhile is at the sports and seems to be winning everything, he is the hero of everyone, Mahon is not easily shaken off, Christy arrives with villagers celebrating him, while Mahon is away, promises Pegeen to marry her, Shawn finally has the consent of Father Reilly and says he wants to wed Pegeen himself,  Shawn and Christy argue, Christy wins, Michael then says he’d rather have Christy for his son in law than a coward like Shawn, gives his blessing, Old Mahon appears, the whole truth is revealed, people scold Christy, especially Pegeen, Old Mahon provokes Christy, they go outside to fight, Christy has apparently now really slain his father with the loy, people try to capture Christy and take him to the police, they don’t want to protect him (a good story is better than a dirty deed), afraid that THEY will be connected with the crime and helping him, Old Mahon appears again, still not dead, liberates Christy, they leave the scene together, Old Mahon now being Christy’s ”slave”, Shawn acts as if nothing happened, asks Pegeen to marry him still, Pegeen slaps him saying she’s lost the only playboy of the western world (regret, self-pity)	showdown effect, story obviously moving towards a climax, revelation, public outing of Christy, people accuse him (don’t criticise their own behaviour which actually made him the hero he is now), opportunism, Shawn (honesty) is the fool, strange ideals (Christian values, manliness,...), all mouth - no action thing, difference between telling a great story about being a killer and actually having killed, cowardly behaviour, first acting as if they didn’t care for the law and the police, then calling upon it when it suits them, etc.