“I have always had a horror of being just ordinary, of being just an ordinary Human Behan...”

Today is not going well. His mistress keeps ringing, the bills aren’t paid and a wire arrives from Dublin with the kind of news that’s guaranteed to put his blood pressure through the roof…

It’s Sixties New York, in that legendary bohemian bolt hole, The Chelsea Hotel. Arthur Miller is just across the hall, the sound of Ornette Coleman is drifting down from the penthouse and the symphony of 24th Street is rising up and in through the open window of Brendan Behan’s room… He’s broke, hung over and way past the delivery date of his latest book, the first line of which he has yet to write. He was told to stop drinking or he’d be dead in six months – that was two years ago….

Brendan Behan is an Irish National Treasure. Ex IRA and writer of pioneering work of extraordinary calibre – including The Quare Fellow, The Hostage and Borstal Boy, his huge personality and uninhibited lifestyle provoked intense interest from the international media, who followed his every move.

This new play, by Behan’s niece Janet, is rich with the insight of a childhood imbued with the fallout of being a Behan; overshadowed by the presence, in person or from afar, of Uncle Brendan and the pursuit and effects of fame. Adrian Dunbar leads a cast including Brid Brennan, and co directs with Rosalind Scanlon who brought the 2006 hit show ‘Dance Hall Days’ to Riverside Studios.

Click the links above to find out more