Theater in the 1950s
The Setting
Symbolism
Songs
Theme of Irish Identity
British Identity
Historical Background
Theater in in the 1950s and The Hostage
Joan Littlewood is described as a socialist and cultural iconoclast. She wanted to reach working class people and non-London audiences and to encourage interaction with audience. This was the philosophy behind her founding of the Theater Workshop, which she and others founded in 1945.
Most British theater at the time was fairly conservative (except Beckett), but was just beginning change; the Theater Workshop and Behan were part of that development.
Behan’s work, and his relationship with Littlewood hold an important place in the history of post-war theater in . Also The Hostage represents the intersection of Irish and British theater just prior to the escalation of hostilities in . Within ten years (1958-1968) of its opening in
London, was immersed in massive political change.
The Hostage is described as an “absurdist tragic-comedy,” part of the movement that includes Harold Pinter, Edward Albee, and Tom Stoppard. The structure of the play and its dialogue demonstrate a strong feeling of improvisation, but this is built around a serious story about the hostage himself, and mixed with discussion about past and present Irish nationalism.
The original play, An Giall, was written in 1956 for Gael Linn, a society established to promote Irish language and culture, part of a new Gaelic revival, to establish as a “spiritually independent” nation. It was first performed in Damer Hall, located in the
Unitarian
Church on St. Stephen’s Green in
Dublin .
The evolution of An Giall to The Hostage can be simply characterized as that of a naturalistic Irish tragedy to tragic-comedy musical extravaganza meant to entertain British audiences. The plot of An Giall is relatively uncomplicated. A hostage is held by the IRA to beexchanged for an Irish prisoner. In the end he is smothered. At the time, there was such a hostage held by the IRA, but they eventually released him. The story is also said to be based on an incident during the
Suez crisis in 1956 – a British soldier was captured by the Egyptians and found smothered to death. The ending of The Hostage has the captive shot.
Littlewood was more interested in a nonrealistic style and in devices which break the “fourth wall” between the actors and the audience, which was a goal of the Absurdist movement. She asked Behan to translate the Gaelic and in collaboration with her, and others, created a play with more characters, with songs and topical references. The shock elements added for the British audiences, such as the homosexual characters, seem tame by today’s standards. The topical references have needed to be updated since first performed, and a tradition of adding local and contemporary references has persisted with every performance since. There remains some controversy about how many of the additions and changes were done with Behan’s approval, but his general satisfaction with the result is documented.
The reaction to The Hostage in Ireland was mixed. Some IRA supporters felt that Behan had betrayed his youthful Republicanism, and that he was catering to British audiences. Others, like Behan, had grown weary of fanatics. These reactions mirror the never-ending conflicts in Irish society. In any case, the play secured for Behan an international reputation.
The Setting
The story takes place in a lodging house originally rented by Monsewer as safe house for IRA soldiers. He and Pat are eventually forced to open the house to others, and it seems to have become both a lodging house and a brothel.
There are two places which can be regarded as a model. One is Behan’s Granny English’s place on Russell St. in Dublin, full of a number of unusual characters who show up in the play in various guises. The other is another house in Dublin - a lodging house kept by a Madame Rodgers. This place was also inhabited by an eclectic mix of poets, playwrights and scoundrels. The title Madame refers to the keeper of bawdy houses but it was also the title for revolutionary women, who offered a place to stay for people on the run.
Monsewer’s character is based on a Claude Chavasse who lived in that house. He educated in and discovered Irish ancestry became Republican. Behan enjoyed satirizing fanatical Irish Republicanism.
Symbolism
The symbolism of the brothel could be the denigration of Republican ideals; it represents the 1921 Treaty prostituting six counties in exchange for peace. But as Behan seemed to have no judgment about prostitution, the brothel could represent the radical possibilities of all sorts living together. Or none of these things…
There was and is a kind of cult of the pub in
Dublin as a place for gregarious boozing - seen as an equalizing place where all classes rub shoulders. But it is also seen as a breeding ground for drunkenness , brawls, and bad health.
Songs
The “Auld Triangle” was written for Behan’s first play The Quare Fellow in 1954. It is first sung off stage (by Behan himself at the opening) and then frames the entire play. It is based on his own imprisonment in Mountjoy from 1942-1946 for “republican activities.” It is about routine, about every day being the same, and how prison destroys time and any sense of history. Since then it has gone beyond status of a song in a play to become a modern Irish anthem. Many groups and famous singers have taken it on.
The music in the play highlights the mixture of serious and fun. Both Littlewood and Behan shared delight in music hall theater and the bawdy and other songs are an essential part of the play. In some ways they cue audience to mood changes – developing themes in lyrics rather than action or dialogue, They can be regarded as character sketches. For example, Pat and Meg have different points of view reflected in their songs
The use of the songs is also an “alienation” effect which Behan and Littlewood consciously attempt. This is a theatrical and cinematic device "which prevents the audience from losing itself passively and completely in the character created by the actor, and which consequently leads the audience to be a consciously critical observer.”
The songs also serve a satiric purpose. One of the jokes in “We’re queer because we’re here…” is that “queerness” not limited to homosexuality; the three men are also secret policemen. It also demonstrates that expediency can unite sexually or politically opposed people.
Theme of Irish Identity
Irish identity is rooted in the memory of martyrdom, oppression and violence, and the cultural glorification of sacrifice. It is linked to an eye for eye mentality. There is the potential for the conflict to go on indefinitely as the people can always draw on past events. They carry their history along with them into the present; it is not compartmentalized.
But in the play this identity is also not concrete. It seems like an easily fixed ideal, but it is confused. This confusion is demonstrated by conversations between Pat and Meg. Pat is nostalgic and romantic about past actions of IRA (particularly 1916 Easter uprising), but skeptical of current activities. He feels that the partitioning and the oath of allegiance to the British crown were acts of betrayal. But he feels that the IRA prefer military action to social reform. Pat had been involved in agricultural reform movement which IRA condemned and Pat is against their narrow-mindedness. Like Behan, he is against fanatics and political forces which divide Ireland.
British Identity
This also plays a role in the drama. Among some characters there is a prejudice against the Irish as drunken and unruly. Each country is dependent upon the other for these opinions. And the meaning of British identity is important because the play was translated.
The Brits and their sympathizers are generally not portrayed positively. Mulleady and Gilchrist who mourn the loss of the Empire are social snobs and/or unattractively pious. The character of Monsewer is more complicated, but has a satirical edge, as explained before.
Historical Background
The back story of much of Irish culture and society between the 1920s and early 1960s is the Treaty of 1921, which separated the six counties of Northern Ireland from the rest of Ireland to remain part of Britain. It was felt that negotiation among all the factions which had developed by that time was impossible and that the Protestant minority would have been badly represented as part of Ireland as a whole. Protestants were the majority in these six counties and most of them were against home rule. Much of Ireland viewed this compromise as a betrayal and the action caused rancor and incalculable division within the country, its various armies and political groups.
In the 1930s there was an economic war which caused further ill feelings. Those leaders, such as Eamon de Valera, who attempted to steer the country through all of these conflicts and crises were not well-regarded by many – largely because of an attempt to reach compromise.
Ireland remained neutral during the Second World War and was not part of the Commonwealth by 1948. There was an economic crisis around 1956 but that had already started to turn around by 1958.
In terms of hostile activities, IRA had carried out series of low-key campaigns from mid 1950s to early 1960s. The Irish government tried to control raids on British army posts along border of and elsewhere. The violence escalated after 1968 (Catholic civil rights movement), and the IRA actually split into two wings, one of which decided to return permanently to “active duty” as long as remained partitioned. Violence and tragedy continues to this day.
