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
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3.0 out of 5 stars
A mixed bag,
By gormenghast (Atlanta, GA United States) - See all my reviews
This review is from: The Complete Plays: The Hostage, The Quare Fellow, Richard's Cork Leg, Moving Out, A Garden Party, The Big House (Paperback)
"The Quare Fellow" is excellent and I highly recommend it. A great play. "Moving Out," "A Garden Party," and "The Big House" have their moments and are worth reading. On the other hand, I cannot for the life of me understand why "The Hostage" was an international hit. I found it unbearably tedious. "Richard's Cork Leg" was also pretty bad.
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This review is from: The Complete Plays: The Hostage, The Quare Fellow, Richard's Cork Leg, Moving Out, A Garden Party, The Big House (Paperback)
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Inside This Book
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Key Phrases - Statistically Improbable Phrases (SIPs):
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quare one, sergeant dear, quare fellow, cell inspection, cork leg, old triangle, jingle jangle, old idiot, punishment cells Key Phrases - Capitalized Phrases (CAPs): (learn more)
Ardee Road, Belfast Jail, Rose of Lima, Mister Chuckles, Crystal Clear, Alan Simpson, Free State, Gabble Gibbon, Royal Canal, Teresa Avila, Civic Guard, Laughing Boy, Maria Concepta, Mister Looney, Passion Play, Tonesollock House, Belgian Count, Holy Healey, O'Connell Street, British Army, British Government, Department of Justice, Forest Lawn, Mister Baldcock, Notting Hill New!
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Front Cover | Table of Contents | First Pages | Back Cover | Surprise Me!
quare one, sergeant dear, quare fellow, cell inspection, cork leg, old triangle, jingle jangle, old idiot, punishment cells Key Phrases - Capitalized Phrases (CAPs): (learn more)
Ardee Road, Belfast Jail, Rose of Lima, Mister Chuckles, Crystal Clear, Alan Simpson, Free State, Gabble Gibbon, Royal Canal, Teresa Avila, Civic Guard, Laughing Boy, Maria Concepta, Mister Looney, Passion Play, Tonesollock House, Belgian Count, Holy Healey, O'Connell Street, British Army, British Government, Department of Justice, Forest Lawn, Mister Baldcock, Notting Hill New!
Books on Related Topics | Concordance | Text Stats Browse Sample Pages:
Front Cover | Table of Contents | First Pages | Back Cover | Surprise Me!
Citations (learn more)
This book cites 13
books:
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11
books
cite this book:
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- Borstal Boy by Brendan Behan on 5 pages
- Behan Complete Plays by Brendan Behan in Front Matter (1), and Front Matter (2)
- The writings of Brendan Behan by Colbert Kearney in Front Matter
- Brendan Behan: An Annotated Bibliography of Criticism by E. H. Mikhail in Front Matter
- The Royal Family (Penguin Readers, Level 3) by Cherry Gilchrist on page 182
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- A Century of Irish Drama: Widening the Stage (Drama and Performance Studies) by Stephen Watt on page 137, page 144, and Back Matter
- Studying Plays by Simon Shepherd in Back Matter
- Lord High Executioner: An Unashamed Look at Hangmen, Headsmen, and Their Kind by Howard Engel in Back Matter
- The Cambridge Companion to Twentieth-Century Irish Drama (Cambridge Companions to Literature) by Shaun Richards on page 15
- A Reader's Guide to Modern Irish Drama (Reader's Guides) by Sanford V. Sternlicht on page 115
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