Im thinking this night wasnt I a foolish fellow not to kill my father in years gone by. Christy Mahon On the first night of J. M. Synges The Playboy of the Western World 1907 the audience began protesting in the theatre by the third night the protests had spilled onto the streets of Dublin. How did one play provoke this Christopher Collins addresses The Playboy s satirical treatment of illusion and realism in light of Irelands struggle for independence as well as Synges struggle for artistic e