I doubt I'd fail to enjoy a good performance of this, but reading it was very tedious. I'm sure it would be different if Irish drama were an area of interest for me. I am interested in the French Canadian adaptation that another reviewer mentioned. ( )

I didn't really know what to make of these plays. It probably didn't help that I read The Playboy of the Western World when I was sick. It's strange, and I'm not sure I can say much more than that, even after seeing a performance of it. There are bits that I liked, and there are bits that I didn't. The characters are all well-drawn, and I usually enjoyed their interactions. Which is a bit of an awful review, but there you go. Riders to the Sea, on the other hand, which tells the story of a family on the Aran Islands, is just too over-the-top to be effective. If men really died on the Aran Islands at that rate, there wouldn't be anyone left! Still has some chilling moments and great imagery, though.

I remember having seen a French Canadian adaptation of this play in high school. Boy were we naive back then... not understanding a thing about literature. The play was indeed boring for us.

However, years later, I enjoyed reading this play for its use of comedy, local language and its meta-comment on playing roles (much more subtle than any Shakespeare). ( )

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