Dueling Critics: Battle Over

Dueling Critics: Battle Over

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The Griffin Theatre‘s The Hostage is set in a Dublin brothel. The adaptation of Brendan Behan’s 1957 play tells the tale of a young British soldier captured by the IRA so that he might be traded for one of their comrades, who’s scheduled to be executed in the morning. Along the way, political and romantic themes as well as an exploration of man’s inhumanity to man evolve. But the piece can actually be considered an absurdist tragic-comedy where the seriousness of the situation is played against the bawdy singing, dancing and “goings-on” of a whorehouse. Eight Forty-Eight’s Dueling Critics Jonathan Abarbanel and Kelly Kleiman unravel this complex work. The Hostage, by the Griffin Theatre Company, will play at The Theatre Building through November 1.