The lecture will offer a survey of the work of John Millington Synge, a principal playwright associated with the Irish Literary Revival, discussing the controversial reception of his plays in the broad political and aesthetic context of the Ireland of his day, including the notorious 'Playboy riots'. Finally it hopes to position Synge's work in the European context, discussing early productions of his plays in the Czech Lands and Germany, as well as the discussions of the national theatre between the Abbey Theatre directors and Karel Mušek, Synge's Czech translator and producer of his dramas in Prague.