The acting by the Communicado company is outstanding, and even the device of having young actresses playing old men works surprisingly well. It is a real joy to discover a classic coming up as fresh as paint like this 
The Daily Telegraph 1994

I have lingered in the splendid new Traverse, not without reward. Easily the highlight has been Gerry Mulgrew’s revival of THE PLAYBOY OF THE WESTERN WORLD for his Communicado outfit. Synge’s imaginative world of superstition and remoter ritual is powerfully elevated above the usual rural realism
The Observer 1994

 Gerry Mulgrew’s new Communicado production of THE PLAYBOY OF THE WESTERN WORLD is vivid, lively rich in folkloristic song and detail, but its greatest insight is that Christy Mahon becomes a sexual magnet not just because he has supposedly committed parricide, but because he has a wild way with words
The Guardian 1994