Brendan Behan

Paulgar

I was greatly influenced by Brendan Behan in my teens and still think that he had such a special gift with words. Here is something I wrote about him

http://www.associatedcontent.com/article/2016746/brendan_behan_and_me.html?cat=38

Do other people share my appreciation of this great talent?

Spore

Indeed...

My only exposure to Brendan Behan is through the excellent 'The Hostage', and like a lot of thing's Behan, it's got controversy written all over it. Behan wrote the play in an advanced stage of his alcoholism and the accusation that Joan Littlewood had a serious bearing on its construction has never been disproven...

What is known, is that Behan brought the original one-act Irish Play 'An Giall' abroad to England and the resulting work-shopped piece was a collaboration with the 'Theatre Workshop' of Littlewood, which merged the original's politically informed melodrama with Brechtian devices of self-awareness and the 'alienation effect', together with traditional Music-Hall pastiche. The result was a brilliant, highly politicised, exuberantly sexual and ingenious piece of theatre that pre-empted Orton and Stoppard.

Behan's standing in both the Irish theatre tradition and the international arena cannot be overestimated. Although he played up to the caricature of the drunken Paddy in life, he exuded the true talent of a master craftsman. The first great Catholic playwright in Ireland, he heralded in a fine tradition that lives to this day in the likes of Brian Friel, Conor McPherson and Marina Carr.

RIP a true legend.

Paulgar

Spore said;
"The first great Catholic playwright in Ireland,.."

I wonder if this would have meant much to Brendan. He always seemed to have a healthy scepticism towards the church.

I enjoyed your post by the way.

Latchy

I really enjoyed reading '' Confessions of an Irish Rebel '' (1965)

He was a bit like Groucho MarX with the put downs and the one liners , specially if it was taken the pee out of the British such as this one when he was interned in the Curragh camp during the war .

British Officer - '' tell me Behan ,do you think we will beat this Hitler chap ?

BB - '' Bate Hitler ? of course you'll bate Hitler ,sure didn't ya nearly bate us ?

Paulgar

Brendan never seemed to have a problem finding a witty response; at least that is what he would have us believe. He once admitted that he lied a lot in his books; he said something along the lines of liking to put loads of salt 'n' vingar on his chips.