Bridgerton and Derry Girls’ Nicola Coughlan is fierce and fiery as the bold publican Pegeen Flaherty, whose life is uprooted by the charismatic, mercurial Christy Mahon in this vivid revival of John Millington Synge’s comedy.

Synge’s comedy tracks the arrival of Christy (Éanna Hardwicke), whose appearance in a small backwater on the coast of County Mayo sparks rumour and excitement, having arrived boldly claiming that he is responsible for the murder of his abusive father. Christy quickly integrates himself into Pegeen’s life, working as a pot-washer in her pub and spinning stories about his difficult childhood, and his violent patricide, with great glee.

Caitríona McLaughlin’s direction highlights the absurdity of the situation, with Christy’s swift integration into the rural community serving as a send-up of the gullibility of those who live there, a nod to the initial fierce reaction to the play in 1907. However, McLaughlin’s, alongside Katie Davenport’s gorgeous costume and set design, also leans heavily into Irish folklore, with great success. The characters are decked out in intricate clothing not just apt for the period, but representative of Irish folklore and mythology, while the set design incorporates a large ‘window’ upstage to look out at the wild landscape, but also a place for haunting folk string music to be played live to accompany the piece too.

It is a terrific leading performance from Coughlan. Pegeen’s character, though a little quick to turn, is portrayed well, and Coughland captures Pegeen’s combination of grief and rage successfully in one particularly haunting moment. Coughlan’s comic timing shines through in delivering Pegeen’s quick, brutal wit, crafting a defiant female character holding her own in a largely male world. This is a neat contrast to the goofy, loud Christy, whose energetic and suspicious behaviour, captured in twitches and grunts, is brought to life well with success by Hardwicke.

While Christy and Pegeen draw much of the spotlight, Siobhán McSweeney threatens to steal the show as the scheming Widow Quin. Quin, on the lookout for a quick win and a new husband, places Christy in the crosshairs of her plan, garnering a great number of laughs in this manipulative, crafty role. McSweeney’s ease on stage makes Widow Quin immediately suspicious, with Synge’s script succeeding in making not just Christy an untrustworthy character, but casting the scheming net wider.

It is in the authentic Irishness of the play where the piece shines through. The design and the thick Irish accent make the first few moments of the play slightly unpenetrable, though this soon rectifies as the play unfolds. While some of the comedy has lost its way in the century since it debuted, McLaughlin’s direction makes the right choices in caricaturing some of the locals, perhaps not as fearful of rioting repercussions in 2025, and focusing on Christy’s absurdity.

This revival of Synge’s controversial play takes a while to get going, but once Christy’s lies start to pour, it is completely engrossing as characters and audiences await his inevitable catching out. Synge’s play, the original ‘fake news’ story, about a charlatan who garners public attention and gets plenty to follow him, may be over 100 years old, but it might not be as outdated as you might hope.