Someone Who'll Watch Over Me: A Play

Someone Who'll Watch Over Me: A Play
by Frank McGuinness

Someone Who'll Watch Over Me: A Play
List Price: $12.00
Our Price: $6.25
You Save: $5.75 (48%)
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
Buy Used: from $2.99 (click here)
Category: Book
See more book details and other editions


(Click here)
Buy this book at online book store in your country
Canada | UK | Germany | France

Book Summary Information

Author: Frank McGuinness
Introduction: Brian Keenan
Edition: Paperback
Audio: English (Unknown); English (Original Language); English (Published)
Published: 1993-01-07
ISBN: 0571168043
Number of pages: 96
Publisher: Faber & Faber

Book Reviews of Someone Who'll Watch Over Me: A Play

Book Review: An emotional rollercoaster
Summary: 5 Stars

"There were three bollocks in a cell in Lebanon. An Englishman, an Irishman, and an American. Why they were in that cell was anybody's guess, and why they were in Lebanon was their own guess." (p. 17)

This is how one of the characters describes their own situation. It sounds like the beginning of a joke and indeed, humour-light hearted as well as black-gets its fair share in McGuinness play. But it never truly manages to conceal the desperateness of their situation.

Having been kidnapped for political reasons unknown to them, by people who are only referred to as 'Arabs' or 'the Enemy', the three hostages have to cope with the daily challenge of fear and monotony. While their captor's strength 'depends on silence' as one of the characters observes, their own depends on communication. There are savage fights between the three as well as gentle understanding, uproarious laughter and deep grief. The play takes the audience on a rollercoaster journey through the horrors of captivity, the balm of memory and the unbreakable strength of friendships forged in dire circumstance.

The play is inspired by the true story of Brian Keenan from Northern Ireland, who was kidnapped in 1986 shortly after taking up his position as a lecturer of English at the American University in Beirut. He was released in 1990 after talks between the Irish and the Iranian government. Most of the four years and five months in Lebanese captivity he spent together with John McCarthy, a British journalist. McCarthy had in fact come to Beirut to make a documentary about the hostage situation and was kidnapped shortly after Brian Keenan. The two men became close friends. When Brian Keenan was released he said that to leave behind his co-hostage was 'like losing an arm'. John McCarthy was not released until August 1991 after more than five years in captivity.

Summary of Someone Who'll Watch Over Me: A Play

An Englishman, an Irishman and an American are locked up together in a cell in the Middle East. As victims of political action, powerless to initiate change, what can they do? How do they live and survive?

Frank McGuinness's new play, introduced by Brian Keenan, explores the daily crisis endured by hostages whose strength comes from communication, both subtle and mundane, from humor, wit and faith.

British & Irish Books

Book Subjects
Most talked about in British & Irish Books
Wesker Plays (Penguin plays & screenplays) ImageWesker Plays (Penguin plays & screenplays)
by Arnold Wesker
Penguin UK; Published: 1999-06; Paperback; Book
Best price: $17.95
Plays Pleasant ImagePlays Pleasant
by Bernard Shaw
Penguin Books; Published: 1988; Paperback; Book
By the Open Sea (Penguin Classics) ImageBy the Open Sea (Penguin Classics)
by August Strindberg
Penguin Classics; Published: 1987-06-02; Mass Market Paperback; Book
Best price: $16.95
The Complete Plays (Penguin Classics) ImageThe Complete Plays (Penguin Classics)
by Christopher Marlowe
Penguin Classics; Published: 1969-12-30; Mass Market Paperback; Book
Best price: $5.00
Price in other shops: $14.95
French Poetry, The Penguin Book of: 1820-1950, Dual Language Edition; with Prose Translations (Classics) (French Edition) ImageFrench Poetry, The Penguin Book of: 1820-1950, Dual Language Edition; with Prose Translations (Classics) (French Edition)
by Various
Penguin Classics; Published: 1991-01-02; Mass Market Paperback; Book
Price in other shops: $16.95
Center Stage 3 LSTP Package w/ Self-study CD-ROM (20th Century Interpretations) ImageCenter Stage 3 LSTP Package w/ Self-study CD-ROM (20th Century Interpretations)
by Samuela Eckstut, Lynn Bonesteel
Pearson ESL; Published: 2008-09-04; Paperback; Book
Best price: $42.99
Price in other shops: $43.07
Hamlet, Prince of Denmark Audio Cassette Set (4 Cassettes) (New Cambridge Shakespeare Audio) ImageHamlet, Prince of Denmark Audio Cassette Set (4 Cassettes) (New Cambridge Shakespeare Audio)
by William Shakespeare, Naxos AudioBooks
Cambridge University Press; Published: 1997-11-28; Audio Cassette; Book
Best price: $15.95
Price in other shops: $31.00
Shakespeare ImageShakespeare
by Michael Wood
Basic Books; Published: 2003-10-15; Hardcover; Book
Best price: $27.95
Price in other shops: $29.95
Women Beware Women: And Other Plays (Oxford World's Classics) ImageWomen Beware Women: And Other Plays (Oxford World's Classics)
by Thomas Middleton
Oxford University Press, USA; Published: 1999-10-28; Paperback; Book
Best price: $10.46
Price in other shops: $24.00
Cymbeline (Oxford Shakespeare) ImageCymbeline (Oxford Shakespeare)
by William Shakespeare
Oxford University Press, USA; Published: 1998-07-16; Hardcover; Book
Best price: $98.50
Price in other shops: $175.00
Similar Books and other products
Death and the Maiden ImageDeath and the Maiden
by Ariel Dorfman
Penguin (Non-Classics); Published: 1994-12-01; Paperback; Book
Best price: $6.45
Price in other shops: $12.00
Titus Andronicus (Arden Shakespeare: Third Series) ImageTitus Andronicus (Arden Shakespeare: Third Series)
by William Shakespeare
Arden Shakespeare; Published: 1995-03-16; Paperback; Book
Best price: $6.99
Price in other shops: $17.00
Look Back in Anger (Plays, Penguin) ImageLook Back in Anger (Plays, Penguin)
by John Osborne
Penguin (Non-Classics); Published: 1982-11-18; Paperback; Book
Best price: $6.40
Price in other shops: $12.00
Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf? ImageWho's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?
by Edward Albee
NAL Trade; Published: 2006-08-01; Paperback; Book
Best price: $5.85
Price in other shops: $14.00
Salome: A Tragedy in One Act ImageSalome: A Tragedy in One Act
by Aubrey Beardsley, Oscar Wilde
Dover Publications; Published: 1967-06-01; Paperback; Book
Best price: $5.16
Price in other shops: $10.95
Philadelphia, Here I Come! : A Comedy in Three Acts ImagePhiladelphia, Here I Come! : A Comedy in Three Acts
by Brian Friel
Faber & Faber; Published: 1994-02-24; Paperback; Book
Best price: $2.55
Price in other shops: $11.95
The Investigation ImageThe Investigation
by Peter Weiss
Marion Boyars Publishers Ltd; Published: 2000-07-01; Paperback; Book
Best price: $8.74
Price in other shops: $14.95
The Collected Shorter Plays Beckett ImageThe Collected Shorter Plays Beckett
by Samuel Beckett
Grove Press; Published: 2010-07-13; Paperback; Book
Best price: $9.97
Price in other shops: $15.95
The Cherry Orchard (Dover Thrift Editions) ImageThe Cherry Orchard (Dover Thrift Editions)
by Anton Chekhov
Dover Publications; Published: 1991-01-01; Paperback; Book
Best price: $0.14
Price in other shops: $2.00
The Lieutenant of Inishmore - Acting Edition ImageThe Lieutenant of Inishmore - Acting Edition
by Martin McDonagh
Dramatists Play Service, Inc.; Published: 2003-01-01; Paperback; Book
Best price: $6.20
Price in other shops: $8.00
Book store. Illustrated catalog of books on different categories