Does blood grease the wheel of history? Or does it simply dry to dust and flake away?
Jesi Bender’s play Crux takes place inside Northern Ireland’s HM Prison Maze where, in 1981, revolutionary Bobby Sands is on hunger strike. To distract himself from his pain, Sands contemplates the role of violence in political change, struggling with the competing philosophies of historical radicals that visit him (in some form) inside his cell. When a seat opens up in Parliament, Sands must decide what message he wants to embody, and exactly what sacrifice he wants to make.
Notices
“The writings of my comrade, Bobby Sands, have been translated into numerous languages and disseminated around the world. Other writers and artists have created fictional accounts of his life based on what they now know about him from his writings. Jesi Bender’s play is an imaginative and fascinating read as she intertwines Bobby’s story with a number of other ‘actors’ from different geographical locations and/or time periods. It reminds me very much of the imaginary conversations I once had as I paced the floor of my prison cell, five paces forward, five paces back. I was no longer in the H-Blocks of Long Kesh but in Cuba with Fidel Castro, Vietnam with Ho Chi Minh, or in Poland or Germany with Rosa Luxemburg—or they were in Ireland with me. There is a great coherence and integrity about the play. I’d love to see a staged production of it.”
—Laurence McKeown, writer/playwright, former IRA prisoner who took part in the prison protests and the 1981 hunger strike (70 days)
“A breathtaking work of art … an uncompromising and unsentimental experiment weighing the value of sacrifice…. Daring, challenging, and timely.”
—Gabriel Hart, in Beyond the Last Estate, #7
“[The] greatest strengths of Crux lie in its ideas and in Bender’s ability to transform historical and political questions into something approaching a Socratic dialogue. The most compelling moments are therefore often the contentious debates between Sands and his fellow radicals, particularly when Bender allows competing philosophies of political action to collide without reducing them to easy answers…. The fragmentary structure, historical allusions, and intellectual debates produce moments of genuine power….”
—Dr. Michael Boynton, in North Meridian Review
“A fascinating read…. The play focuses on the last days of his hunger strike where he is questioning himself on whether he is doing the right thing, he is joined by others that have carried out their own strikes for their own causes and it becomes quite philosophical on how successful they were…. The play is well created, effective use of a small space…. The book and subject matter are powerful and it does make the reader go away and research the other characters in this play. Sands himself has been handled with care….”
—Jason Denness, in Gnome Appreciation Society
“One of the highlights of Crux is the intellectual engagement with each perspective and the reasoning that fuels the characters’ outlook, even as they change their opinions in response to debate and the deteriorating health of Bobby Sands. No one person or belief is given credence or importance over another…. Crux stands as an original and beautiful rendering of Ireland amongst post-colonialist narratives, embracing nuance and empathy at a time when reactionary views are becoming more pervasive than ever.”
—Ellen Harold, in Compulsive Reader
Jesi Bender is an artist from Upstate New York. She is the author of the novels Child of Light and The Book of the Last Word, the plays Crux and Kinderkrankenhaus, and the poetry collection Dangerous Women. Her shorter work can be seen in Denver Quarterly, FENCE, and Sleepingfish, among other places. www.jesibender.com