I've been working on the promotion of "Brendan at the Chelsea" sent to Off Broadway by Belfast's Lyric Theatre, starring Adrian Dunbar as the notorious Dublin writer Brendan Behan when he lived at the equally notorious Chelsea Hotel in New York in 1963.

It's been a great project working with a top-notch team in Belfast, savvy theater promoters here and a superb cast headed by Adrian Dunbar in a riveting performance as Brendan Behan in the alcohol-haze shrouded sunset of his brief but eventful life.

Dunbar also directs the multi-actor, fully staged play, which was written by Behan's niece Janet Behan. The Chelsea Hotel itself becomes a kind of character in the drama, and as the play revives that time in the hotel's history, the hotel keeps Behan's memory alive through this bronze plaque on its exterior

During the play, Behan is frequently on the phone with publisher Bernard Geis mentioned in the plaque, the man who commissioned Behan to write Brendan Behan's New York, the book he is working on in fits and starts throughout the play

Richard Orr as Chelsea Hotel neighbor George Kleinsinger and Adrian Dunbar as Brendan Behan

This chapter of the Chelsea Hotel history takes place over two days at the end of his stay in Behan's favorite city in the world. Of that city he said,

“New York is my Lourdes, where I go for spiritual refreshment... a place where you're least likely to be bitten by a wild goat.” 

The play earned an excellent New York Times which concluded by saying:

"And in the title role, Mr. Dunbar, who also directed, exudes a feckless, erratic and spellbinding charisma. Mr. Dunbar, who originated the role in 2008, is alternately charming and scathingly abusive; his Behan is quick with a one-liner (the play liberally quotes Behan) and yet painfully aware of his trembling hand and hopeless addiction. His performance alone makes “Brendan at the Chelsea” a must."

For more on the play, go to www.brendanchelsea.com.  And as a bonus for those who read this post to the end, you can get a 20% discount by using promo code TRMEDIA when you order your tickets! 

Chris Robinson, Adrian Dunbar, Pauline Hutton as Beatrice Behan, Richard Orr

Adrian Dunbar with Samantha Pearl as the dancer, Lianne