An Irish Masterpiece Still Shocking: Considering Synge’s PLAYBOY OF THE WESTERN WORLD
An extended consideration of the new Synge production from Mount Airy’s Quintessence Theatre.
Sonja Field
SHE STOOPS TO CONQUER (Quintessence): A contemporary 18th-century comedy
SHE STOOPS is an 18th-century comedy of manners and mistaken identities by Oliver Goldsmith. It is considered by many to be the most enduring of 18th-century plays (name another you’ve…
HAMLET (Quintessence): Brevity is the soul of it
Hip, fast-paced, with a frat-boy-cool lead: these aren’t usually phrases to describe HAMLET. But Quintessence Theatre Group’s heavily edited version takes a bare bodkin to Shakespeare’s story of revenge and existential crisis in the state of Denmark.
ARMS AND THE MAN (Quintessence) plays up the farce
Two main threads run through George Bernard Shaw’s plays: social critique (he was an early member of the socialist Fabian society) and sharp observant humor. Some of Shaw’s social criticism…
