The Big Fellah

(Paperback)

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Description

Shortlisted for the Writers' Guild of Great Britain Best Theatre Play 2011 Young New Yorker Michael Doyle decides to live up to his Irish heritage by joining the IRA. Hes recruited by Costello, the charismatic Big Fellah, who wants to use Doyles brownstone apartment in The Bronx as a safe house for an escaped killer. But it soon becomes clear that someone is leaking information to the FBI... Set among Irish Americans in New York, Richard Beans dark, glinting, funny play spans three turbulent decades. A boisterous and witty story of loyalty, disillusionment and betrayal.

Reviews

"There are jaw-dropping laughs in Richard Bean's new drama. But, while it plays in an often broadly comic key, it engages with a big, meaty subject... some cracking performances in Max Stafford-Clark's production" 4 STARS Sunday Times "Dark, witty and shocking... Deftly directed by Max Stafford-Clark with first-rate performances from all the cast, this play is highly recommended" British Theatre Guide It races to its chilling finale which left the audience in stunned salience... a cracking script, excellent production and impeccable performances" - East Anglian Daily Times "Richard Bean is a brave man... in this combative, compelling and far superior new piece, he offers a potted history of the Irish republican movement. But the wit and originality of the play lie in the fact that it examines the cause's factionalism from an American perspective... What is excellent about the play is the way it explores historical change through individual lives, and shows the mixed motives that drive people on... It is a deeply political play, but full of wild black humour and an acute awareness that the prosecutors of any revolutionary cause ultimately become its victims."- Michael Billington, The Guardian "This is the funniest play about Irish troublemakers since Bill Morrisons "Flying Blind"... The West End surely beckons."- Michael Coveney, What's On Theatre "Beans play is very funny, full of sharp contrasts between grim hilarity and gut-wrenching reversals."- The Stage "One moment youre exploding with mirth at its sly abrasive wit, the next its choking the laughter out of your throat. Directed with thrilling energy and searing precision by Max Stafford-Clark CRITICS CHOICE 4 STARS-Time Out
"There are jaw-dropping laughs in Richard Bean's new drama. But, while it plays in an often broadly comic key, it engages with a big, meaty subject... some cracking performances in Max Stafford-Clark's production" 4 STARS Sunday Times "Dark, witty and shocking... Deftly directed by Max Stafford-Clark with first-rate performances from all the cast, this play is highly recommended" British Theatre Guide It races to its chilling finale which left the audience in stunned salience... a cracking script, excellent production and impeccable performances" - East Anglian Daily Times "Richard Bean is a brave man... in this combative, compelling and far superior new piece, he offers a potted history of the Irish republican movement. But the wit and originality of the play lie in the fact that it examines the cause's factionalism from an American perspective... What is excellent about the play is the way it explores historical change through individual lives, and shows the mixed motives that drive people on... It is a deeply political play, but full of wild black humour and an acute awareness that the prosecutors of any revolutionary cause ultimately become its victims."- Michael Billington, The Guardian "This is the funniest play about Irish troublemakers since Bill Morrisons "Flying Blind"... The West End surely beckons."- Michael Coveney, What's On Theatre "Beans play is very funny, full of sharp contrasts between grim hilarity and gut-wrenching reversals."- The Stage "One moment youre exploding with mirth at its sly abrasive wit, the next its choking the laughter out of your throat. Directed with thrilling energy and searing precision by Max Stafford-Clark CRITICS CHOICE 4 STARS-Time Out

Author Bio

RICHARD BEAN, a former stand-up comedian and renowned British playwright has had plays staged worldwide. An award winning writer his first full length play, Of Rats and Men was staged at the Canal Caf and went on to Edinburgh. He adapted it for radio for the BBC and it was nominated for a Sony Award. This was followed by Toast, a hit at the Royal Court in 1999. His other plays have been staged at such illustrious venues as the National Theatre, the Bush Theatre and the Hampstead theatre. Bean also won the 2005 Critics' Circle Theatre Best New Play Award for Harvest.