A Review of "The Playboy of the Western World," in Madison Gerry Goodstein, Shakespeare Theater of New Jersey Christy, played by Michael A. Newcomer, celebrates as the pub owner's daughter, Pegeen, played by Izzie Steel, front right, looks on, in a production of "The Playboy of the Western World" in Madison. But in J. M. Synge's timeless comedy "The Playboy of the Western World," a whole village falls in love with one - a young man who staggers through the pub door one evening and soon confesses that he has killed his father. In the Shakespeare Theater of New Jersey's saucy and hilarious new production, the title character, Christopher Mahon, known as Christy, is played by an actor with the distinctive name Michael A. Newcomer. Mr. Newcomer captures Christy's combination of puzzlement (why are people being so nice to him?) and growing confidence and charm, as he comes to accept their high opinion of him. The young, attractive Widow Quin (Emma O'Donnell) puts her finger on his demeanor when she teases him, saying, "Don't be letting on to be shy - a fine, gamy, treacherous lad the like of you." It is good to be reminded that a public fascination with criminals and general wrongdoers is far from new. But at the first performance of "Playboy," in Dublin in 1907, there were actual riots. Good Irishmen and Irishwomen did not appreciate being portrayed as the kind of people who would embrace and protect a killer, even if Christy's father was a cruel old man, deserving of his fate. Speaking of the Irish people, if the program said all these actors had been imported from County Mayo just for this production, I would have believed it. But that is clearly not true. The hale and hearty pub habitué Jimmy Farrell is played by Michael Daly, in his sixth season with the New Jersey company. His long, lanky partner in drinking, Philly Cullen, is Patrick Toon, in his seventh season with the company. Pegeen (Izzie Steele), the pub owner's daughter and the object of Christy's affection, is the picture of spirited young Irish womanhood, but Ms. Steele is a Rutgers graduate from Delaware doing her sixth season in Madison. And I could have sworn that the four young girls who arrive at the pub the next morning, dying of curiosity to meet Christy and treating him like Conrad Birdie, were true colleens. But Madeline Fendrick, Sarah Quigley, Megan Sass and Elaine Stenson all have degrees from American universities. If there is a most sympathetic character in the story of Christy Mahon, it has to be poor Shawn Keogh, Pegeen's adorably timid fiancé. Shawn is played with nerdy perfection by James Russell. His comic performance is matched only by that of the Shakespeare Theater veteran Edmond Genest as Christy's father, who makes his final entrance the play's biggest laugh. For those who are unfamiliar with the "Playboy" plot, it will not be revealed here whether the father's scenes are flashbacks, dreams or something else entirely. Brittany Vasta's set makes the friendly pub a believable, humble place, with rough walls, an underfunctioning fireplace, kerosene lamps (lighting design by Michael Giannitti) and a single wooden table center stage. Candida Nichols's costumes are practical and handsome. Stephen Gabis, the dialect consultant, has done such a good job of teaching authentic Irish accents that the actors can be difficult to understand at times. But that is not an infrequent complaint about productions of "Playboy," so the fault - to American ears - may lie just as much in Synge's dialogue. Paul Mullins's direction keeps the energy going and the humor coming, in big ways and small. The scene in which the Widow Quin and Pegeen fight over where Christy will sleep that first night is immense fun. And it's a nice directorial touch that Pegeen's romantic interest in Christy is first made clear by means of her extremities; seated at the pub table beside him, she keeps her facial expression neutral and her overall body language dignified, but her feet are doing an excited, flirtatious little dance of their own, unseen except by us. "The Playboy of the Western World," by J. M. Synge, is at the F. M. Kirby Shakespeare Theater, 36 Madison Avenue, Madison, through June 23. Information: shakespearenj.org or (973) 408-5600.