BEHIND THE SCENES: In Rehearsal With The Cast And Crew Of THE HOSTAGE

It's some time around 1960. News that a young IRA man has been sentenced to death by the British reaches the whores, sailors, pimps and revolutionaries who reside in a seedy, Dublin boarding house. In retaliation, the IRA captures a Cockney soldier bringing him to the house. Tension mounts until the execution hour arrives and, with an explosive finale, the hostage's fate is decided.

That's the backdrop for The Hostage, the play by Brendan Behan that Jagged Fence Productions are mounting at the Southwark Playhouse this month. St Andrew's Church in Baron's Court is where the cast and crew have been rehearsing through the freezing recent weather.

"It's going smoothly so far," Adam Penford, the director, assures me. Behan's play was originally performed at the Theatre Royal Stratford East under the direction of Joan Littlewood, and original cast member Murray Melvin has proved a great help in the company's research. He's not just given Penford access to boxes of cuttings and photos, but he's helped him work out how the songs should sound, in the absence of a score. 

"I've just rung him up and asked him to sing it to me," admits Penford. "He's just so steeped in the history, the legacy, and the mechanics of the play."

So why revive a firmly historical piece now? "It feels topical," says Penford. Alexandra Smith, one of the production team, adds: "Peter Moore has just been released; all the issues are still relevant."

"Murray advised us to tear it apart and start it again," says Penford. "Originally, Brendan told the company stories and they just workshopped it." Smith agrees: "So now we can just improvise around recent news stories, because we need to stay current, and we need to work with that."

And yet at the same time, the play itself has to stay rooted in its historical setting. "If it was contemporary, it would be a new play. Pieces of it wouldn't make sense. So it's a juggling act," explains Penford.

The cast includes Ben James-Ellis, noted formerly for his West End work as Link Larkin in Hairspray. and who plays the titular hostage here. He came to rehearsals a week late because of his panto commitments, and found himself entering a company that had already bonded very tightly. "That wasn't the plan, but it worked well," says Penford. "He was feeling a bit of an outsider on that first day, and of course he's playing a hostage in a strange world."

Penford always casts actors he wants to work with. "There are no egos here; it's really an ensemble piece. There are no 'stars' here - and you COULD use 'stars', because any actor would love to play any of these roles," says Penford. "But we needed people who could do the accents, who can sing, dance, or play musical instruments. And at the same time, I wanted actors, not actor-musicians. I needed people who could portray these characters and be truthful to them. This may be a piece with plenty of gags, but the heart of it is very dark."

The Hostage plays the Southwark Playhouse from 3rd to 20th February 2010.

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