BEHAN (BRENDAN) Annotated typescript of his play The Quare Fellow [1954]

BEHAN (BRENDAN) Annotated typescript of his play The Quare Fellow under the original title 'The Twisting of Another Rope/ A Play in Three Acts/ by/ Brendan Behan', with address c/o Grafton Galleries, Dublin beneath, including c.20 pages with textural corrections and changes in pencil and ink in Behan's hand, mainly in the first act, pencil drawing of a stage design showing buildings and a prison wall loosely inserted, 98 numbered leaves, dust-staining, discolouration and marks, stapled, rust-staining from staples on outer leaves, folio (338 x 210mm.), [1954] Footnotes: '...WHICH QUARE FELLOW DO YOU MEAN? THE ONE THAT QUARTERED HIS BROTHER WITH THE MEAT CHOPPER OR THE FELLOW BEAT HIS WIFE TO DEATH WITH THE SILVER TOPPED CANE...?' Widely considered one of the major works of post-War Irish theatre, The Quare Fellow was Brendan Behan's first play, opening at the Pike Theatre, Dublin on 19 November 1954. A 'tragicomedy concerning the reactions of jailers and prisoners to the imminent hanging of a condemned man' (Britannica.com), the play had a celebrated run at Joan Littlewood's Theatre Workshop before transferring to the West End in London in 1956. The staging of The Quare Fellow was a turning point in Behan's career, the Broadway transfer of which brought him international recognition. This is a working typescript, including corrections and amendments by Behan and using his original title. The play is autobiographical, based on Behan's own experiences of prison, something which informed him throughout his writing career. From a staunchly Republican family, he had spent time in borstal for being in possession of explosives which he described in his memoir Borstal Boy. During the war he was found guilty of conspiracy to murder two Garda detectives (inspiring his book Confessions of an Irish Rebel), and incarcerated in Mountjoy Prison, where he began writing plays and short stories. He was released in a general amnesty for IRA prisoners in 1946. For further information on this lot please visit Bonhams.com For further information about this lot please visit the lot listing