It doesn’t come around very often, but whenever it does I am always thrilled to see it. John Millington Synge’s 1907 Irish classic makes my list of the top five plays written in the 20th century, thanks in no small part to the glorious cadences and mellifluousness of the way its rural County Mayo characters speak. Let no one say that theatre cannot have real-world consequences: when it premiered at the Abbey in Dublin, Playboy sparked riots that spread to the streets, thanks to its portrayal of a little community that is less than full of good God-fearing Catholics.

Our heroine is publican’s daughter Pegeen Mike ( Bridgerton star Nicola Coughlan ); by the jaunty red boots that she sports we can tell instantly that Pegeen is bored and up for mischief. There’s not much in the way of e

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