John Millington Synge

Edmund John Millington Synge (1871–1909) was an Irish playwright, poet, and folklore collector who was a crucial figure in the Irish Literary Revival alongside W.B. Yeats and Lady Gregory. Encouraged by Yeats in Paris to visit the remote Aran Islands off Ireland's western coast, Synge spent summers immersing himself in the language, Gaelic myths, and harsh daily lives of island fishermen.

Synge adapted the poetic idioms and syntax of western Irish speech into luminous theatrical dialogue in masterpieces like Riders to the Sea (a sea tragedy) and The Playboy of the Western World (1907). The latter's irreverent comedy and perceived slight on Irish female virtue caused legendary nationalist riots upon its premiere at the Abbey Theatre, yet it stands as one of the supreme accomplishments of modern drama.