Juno and the Paycock – Gielgud Theatre
Juno and the Paycock is widely regarded as Sean O'Caseys's theatrical masterpiece. Set during the Irish Civil War in 1922 the first act starts almost as a melodrama with " Captain" Jack Boyle( Mark Rylance) and his dissolute companion "Joxer" Daly (Paul Hilton) indulging in drunken excess and an attempting to avoid all forms of work while dodging the wrath of Juno Boyle (J.Smith-Cameron), the redoubtable female head of the household.
The impoverished family’s fortunes seem to take a dramatic turn for the better when they are informed that Jack Boyle has received a large inheritance from a relative. As the second act opens, we see them in the same rundown dwelling, but now bedecked with new expensive furnishings and the family wearing new clothes for which they ha...