''Operation Crucible'' is a play by Kieran Knowles about the

Sheffield Blitz The Sheffield Blitz is the name given to the worst nights of German ''Luftwaffe'' bombing in Sheffield, England, during the Second World War. It took place over the nights of 12 December and 15 December 1940. In 1940, Sheffield was a city o ...

, the

German German(s) may refer to: * Germany (of or related to) **Germania (historical use) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizens of Germany, see also German nationality law **Ger ...

Luftwaffe The ''Luftwaffe'' () was the aerial-warfare branch of the German ''Wehrmacht'' before and during World War II. Germany's military air arms during World War I, the ''Luftstreitkräfte'' of the Imperial Army and the '' Marine-Fliegerabtei ...

bombing A bomb is an explosive weapon that uses the exothermic reaction of an explosive material to provide an extremely sudden and violent release of energy. Detonations inflict damage principally through ground- and atmosphere-transmitted mechanica ...

Sheffield Sheffield is a city status in the United Kingdom, city in South Yorkshire, England, whose name derives from the River Sheaf which runs through it. The city serves as the administrative centre of the City of Sheffield. It is Historic counties o ...

, England, during the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

. The drama focuses on a group of four (fictional) steelworkers trapped inside the cellar of the Marples Hotel, in the city's Fitzalan Square, which was destroyed during bombing on 12 December 1940.

History

The first play by actor Kieran Knowles. ''Operation Crucible'', directed by Bryony Shanahan, opened for a run of nine performances at the small

Finborough Theatre The Finborough Theatre is a fifty-seat theatre in the West Brompton area of London (part of the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea) under artistic director Neil McPherson. The theatre presents new British writing, as well as UK and world p ...

in Chelsea, London in December 2013. It had a second run at the venue in July 2015 as the theatre's main production, It transferred to the Crucible Theatre studio, Sheffield, again directed by Shanahan, where it opened in October 2016 for a seventeen-day run. John Murphy in ''The Stage'', reviewing the play at the Sheffield theatre, commented on the "gorgeously poetic quality to Knowles’ dialogue, especially in the cast's rapid-fire, rhythmic delivery". ''Operation Crucible'' transferred to

59E59 theaters 59E59 Theaters is a curated rental venue located in New York City that consists of three theater spaces or stages. It shows both off-Broadway (in Theater A) and off-off-Broadway plays (in Theaters B and C). The complex is owned and operated by ...

in New York City in May 2018 as part of the theatre's Brits Off Broadway Festival and was

Ben Brantley Benjamin D. Brantley (born October 26, 1954) is an American theater critic, journalist, editor, publisher and writer. He served as the chief theater critic for ''The New York Times'' from 1996 to 2017, and as co-chief theater critic from 2017 to ...

New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid d ...

Critics Pick It was adapted for

BBC Radio Four BBC Radio 4 is a British national radio station owned and operated by the BBC that replaced the BBC Home Service in 1967. It broadcasts a wide variety of spoken-word programmes, including news, drama, comedy, science and history from the BBC' ...

and aired in July 2018 directed by

Toby Swift Toby Swift is a radio drama director and producer for BBC Radio. His numerous credits, from 1999 to 2011, include the crime dramas '' The Recall Man'' and ''Trueman and Riley {{Infobox Radio Show , show_name = Trueman and Riley , im ...

. ''Operation Crucible'' started an

Off-Broadway An off-Broadway theatre is any professional theatre venue in New York City with a seating capacity between 100 and 499, inclusive. These theatres are smaller than Broadway theatres, but larger than off-off-Broadway theatres, which seat fewer tha ...

run at the Davenport Theatre in October 2018. Salvatore D’Aquila, Christopher McCurry, James Wallwork, and playwright Kieran Knowles play the four men trapped by the bombing.

References

{{reflist 2013 plays