by Brendan Behan
directed by Charlotte Moore
October 20 – December 31, 2000
The Hostage depicts the events leading up to the planned execution of an 18-year-old IRA member in a Belfast jail, accused of killing an Ulster policeman. The action of the play is set in a very odd house of ill-repute on Nelson Street, Dublin, owned by a former IRA commandant. The hostage of the title is Leslie Williams, a young and innocent Cockney British soldier taken at the border with Northern Ireland and held in the brothel, brought among the vibrant but desperately unorthodox combination of prostitutes, revolutionaries and general low characters inhabiting the place.
“a rare opportunity to discover an important figure of Irish culture and to lift one’s spirits with a bawdy, blistering hodgepodge of melody, comedy, suspense, and inspired silliness.” -TheaterMania
Creative Team:
Scenic Design: Eugene Lee
Costume Design: Linda Fisher
Lighting Design: Gregory Cohen
Musical Director: Mark Hartman