A comedy of errors from director Stathis Livathinos

‘Playboy of the Western World’ at Metaxourgeio

By Olga Stella - Kathimerini

In 1907, at the Abbey Theater in Dublin, where John Millington Synge presented the premiere of his play, “The Playboy of the Western World,” riots broke out in reaction to the play’s perceived blasphemous, misogynistic and anti-Irish tone.

In the tale, a frightened little man turns up in County Mayo, in Ireland’s remote, Catholic west. His presence drastically alters the daily lives of the simple villagers he finds there: The women fall all over themselves in an attempt to seduce him, while the men, initially wary, soon make him into their champion. And why? All because Christy Mahon claims to have killed his father.

A comedy of errors soon unfolds, in which reality seems to contradict what each character chooses to believe – yet each continues to cling adamantly to his/her beliefs. Director Stathis Livathinos has staged a fresh, energetic and satisfying production, using actors from earlier plays from his days at the National Theater Experimental Stage. These actors are all in constant motion, using every inch of space – always with purpose and always in order to show every side of the character they have been called upon to portray.

Directed by Stathis Livathinos, the play stars Maria Nafpliotou, Stelios Iakovidis, Nikos Kardonis and Dimitris Papanikolaou.

Metaxourgeio Theater, 14 Academou, tel 210.523.4382.