Behan's The Quare Fellow was his first major play and the start of his fruitful collaboration with Joan Littlewood. It was originally produced in Dublin and then adapted successfully for the London stage by Littlewood's Theater Workshop. The play is also focused upon an impending execution and explores Irish nationalism. However, it is set in a prison, and the overall tone of the play is much bleaker than The Hostage.
Behan's autobiographical novel Borstal Boy is well-worth reading: it provides insight into the writer's life experience and a glimpse of his relaxed prose style. The autobiographical novel is based upon Behan's teenage experience in English prisons and reformatories when he was jailed for possession of explosives. The narrative is moving and humorous and describes the young narrator's transformation from his initial pose of boyish bravado.....
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