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This volume contains everything Behan wrote in dramatic form in
English. First come the three famous full-length plays: The Quare
Fellow, set in an Irish prison, is "something very like a
masterpiece" (John Russell Taylor); The Hostage, set in a Dublin
lodging-house of doubtful repute, "shouts, sings, thunders and
stamps with life . . . a masterpiece" (Harold Hobson); and
Richard's Cork Leg, set largely in a graveyard, is nevertheless "a
joyous celebration of life" (Michael Billington). There follow
three little-known one-act plays originally written for radio and
all intensely autobiographical: Moving Out, A Garden Party and The
Big House. The Introduction, by Alan Simpson, who knew Behan well
and first directed his work on stage, provides the essential
biographical details as well as candid insights into Behan's
working methods and his political allegiances. Also included in the
volume is a wide-ranging bibliography. "It seems to be Ireland's
function, every twenty years or so, to provide a playwright who
will kick English drama from the past into the present. Brendan
Behan may well fill the place vacated by Sean O'Casey."-Kenneth
Tynan
A critical study of author Brendan Behan and his work, through
collected letters, correspondence, material from previous
publications and personal reminiscences. E.H.Mikhail has published
work on other literary figures including "James Joyce: Interviews
and Recollections".
Introduced by Patrick Lonergan, The Methuen Drama Anthology of
Irish Plays brings together five major works from the Irish
dramatic canon of the last sixty years in one outstanding
collection. Behan's The Hostage, depicting the capture and death of
a British soldier by the IRA, was first produced by Joan
Littlewood's Theatre Workshop in 1958 and was declared 'a
masterpiece' by The Times. Murphy's Bailegangaire (1985) portrays a
senile old woman's recitation of an epic tale to her two
granddaughters who struggle to free themselves from her and
exorcise the past. Reid's The Belle of the Belfast City, winner of
the George Devine Award in 1986, examines the tensions present in
three generations of women in a Belfast-Protestant family during
the week of an anti-Anglo-Irish rally. Sebastian Barry's The
Steward of Christendom won the London Critics' Circle Award for
Best Play 1995 and was heralded by the Guardian as 'an authentic
masterpiece'. McDonagh's 1996 play The Cripple of Inishmaan is a
strange comic tale in the great tradition of Irish storytelling.
McDonagh was awarded the Evening Standard Award for Most Promising
Playwright.
Borstal Boy is an autobiography about Brendan Behan's teenage years, before and during World War Two. Born in Dublin, Ireland in 1923, Brendan had become an alcoholic by the time he was eight years old. When he was 14 he became a member of the IRA (Irish Republican Army). In 1939 he went to Liverpool, England, carrying explosives for the IRA. On the eve of his arrival he was arrested and in February 1940 he was sentenced to three years' reform school. First published in 1958, this autobiography follows the fascinating story of his early years.
This volume contains everything Brendan Behan wrote in dramatic
form in English Contains the three famous full-length plays: The
Quare Fellow, set in an Irish prison ("In Brendan Behan's
tremendous new play language is out on a spree, ribald, dauntless
and spoiling for a fight ...with superb dramatic tact, the tragedy
is concealed beneath layer after layer of rough comedy" Observer);
The Hostage, set in a Dublin lodging-house of doubtful repute where
a young English soldier is being kept prisoner, "shouts, sings,
thunders and stamps with life...a masterpiece" (The Times); and
Richard's Cork Leg, set in a graveyard, "a joyous celebration of
life" (Guardian). The volume also contains three one-act plays,
originally written for radio and all intensely autobiographical,
Moving Out, A Garden Party and The Big House.
Brendan Behan's genius was to strike a chord between critic and
common man. When he died, at the age of 41, he was arguably the
most celebrated Irish writer of the twentieth century. After the
Wake is a collection of seven prose works and a series of articles.
It includes all that exists of an unfinished novel, 'The
Catacombs', and pieces together items whose comic and fanciful
accounts evoke Flann O'Brien. Also featured are works of
acknowledged excellence, 'The Confirmation Suit' and 'A Woman of No
Standing'. This writing bears all the hallmarks of the author's
talent - an ability to bring characters to life quickly and
unforgettably, a sharp ear for dialogue and dialect, and a natural
vocation for story-telling. This diverse collection is a delightful
and entertaining windfall from one of Ireland's most colourful
writers. An essential complement to Behan's master works.
Confessions of an Irish Rebel is an autobiography about Brendan Behan’s later life. A renowned poet and playwright, Brendan spent much of his life in and out of pubs and prisons - serving time for carrying explosives for the IRA (Irish Republican Army) or for involvement in a shooting in the early 1940s. While in prison he learned Irish and began to write poetry in Irish. After his release, he spent some time in Paris and back in Dublin he contributed to a weekly show on Radio Telefis Éireann. From 1953 he wrote a column in the Irish Press. Confessions of an Irish Rebel follows Borstal Boy, a memoir about his early years.
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