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National Theatre Live: The Playboy of the Western World

Play trailer Poster for National Theatre Live: The Playboy of the Western World May 2026 2h 30m Drama Comedy Play Trailer Watchlist
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Nicola Coughlan (Bridgerton) joins Éanna Hardwicke (The Sixth Commandment) and Siobhán McSweeney (Derry Girls) in John Millington Synge’s riveting play of youth and self-discovery. Pegeen Flaherty's life is turned upside down when a young man walks into her pub claiming that he's killed his father. Instead of being shunned, the killer becomes a local hero and begins to win hearts, that is until a second man unexpectedly arrives on the scene.... Filmed live on stage at the National Theatre, Caitríona McLaughlin directs this darkly funny tale full to the brim with secrets.

Audience Reviews

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Ghederick Eshmont 1h Very populist theatre, fun & dark with a rushed, empty end See more Tobb D @TobbDelow 21h This was so hard to understand that I left at intermission. Talking to other audience members, we could only dimly follow the story and were not sure if the entire production was even in English. The lead actor, , Éanna Hardwicke, looked like a younger skinnier Richard Kind, but with more mugging and hamminess. If I understand the script, his character is first presented as a criminal on the run, but is accepted immediately by the community. Maybe a more charismatic, less clownish, performance might have made sense of this. But it was just baffling. (Admittedly, this is based on the visuals alone since his dialog was the hardest to understand.) Maybe Irish audiences will have an easier time with this, but it was not something native English speakers will follow easily. See more Read all reviews
National Theatre Live: The Playboy of the Western World

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Cast & Crew

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Caitriona McLaughlin

Director

Nicola Coughlan

Pegeen Mike

Lorcan Cranitch

Michael Flaherty

Megan Cusack

Susan Brady

Naoise Dunbar

Jimmy Farrell

Sallay Garnett

Nelly
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National Theatre Live: The Playboy of the Western World

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Movie Info

Synopsis Nicola Coughlan (Bridgerton) joins Éanna Hardwicke (The Sixth Commandment) and Siobhán McSweeney (Derry Girls) in John Millington Synge’s riveting play of youth and self-discovery. Pegeen Flaherty's life is turned upside down when a young man walks into her pub claiming that he's killed his father. Instead of being shunned, the killer becomes a local hero and begins to win hearts, that is until a second man unexpectedly arrives on the scene.... Filmed live on stage at the National Theatre, Caitríona McLaughlin directs this darkly funny tale full to the brim with secrets.
Director
Caitriona McLaughlin
Screenwriter
John Millington Synge
Distributor
National Theatre Live
Production Co
National Theatre
Genre
Drama, Comedy
Original Language
British English
Release Date (Theaters)
May 28, 2026, Limited
Runtime
2h 30m