It’s 1958. News that a young IRA man has been sentenced to death by the British reaches the whores, sailors, pimps and revolutionaries who reside in a seedy, Dublin boarding house. In retaliation, the IRA captures a Cockney soldier and brings him to the house. Tension mounts until the execution hour arrives and, with an explosive finale, the hostage’s fate is decided. Behan combines sharp dialogue, black humour and live Irish music and dances to explore the play’s themes of prejudice and terrorism. This is a modern classic by one of Ireland’s most acclaimed and controversial playwrights. The Hostage was translated from the original Gaelic and premiered in 1958 at the Theatre Royal Stratford East under the direction of Joan Littlewood. The cast used improvisational workshops to develop the piece and the text was revised in collaboration with Behan himself. The play was last performed by the RSC in 1994.
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