MILLINGTON SYNGE, JOHN / WILLIAM BUTLER YEATS / O´CASEY SEAN
u003cpu003e u003c/pu003eu003cbu003eThe plays that helped make modern Ireland u003cpu003eu003c/bu003eRiots greeted the first performance of u003cbu003eThe Playboy of the Western Worldu003c/bu003e at Dublin's Abbey Theatre on 26 January 1907. Eggs, potatoes and even a slice of fruit cake were hurled at the actors during subsequent performances, and it seems unlikely that much of the actual play could have been heard in the uproar. Synge's u003cbu003eThe Playboy of the Western Worldu003c/bu003e, with the two other plays in this volume, Yeats's u003cbu003eThe Countess Cathleenu003c/bu003e (1892) and O'Casey's u003cbu003eCock-a-doodle Dandyu003c/bu003e (1949), mark vital stages in the rich explosion of Irish drama that first made itself heard at the turn of the century and gathered momentum during the Easter Rising of 1916 and the Civil War. u003cpu003eFor more than seventy years, Penguin has been the leading publisher of classic literature in the English-speaking world. With more than 1,700 titles, Penguin Classics represents a global bookshelf of the best works throughout history and across genres and disciplines. Readers trust the series to provide authoritative texts enhanced by introductions and notes by distinguished scholars and contemporary authors, as well as up-to-date translations by award-winning translators.
