Belfast theater puts on pub crawl for famously drunken Brendan Behan

Belfast’s Lyric Theatre has found an appropriate way to celebrate the upcoming New York debut of its show “Brendan at the Chelsea,” about the legendary hard-drinking writer Brendan Behan. Theater fans can go on a pub crawl of favorite bars of Behan — who was banned from the Algonquin Hotel and even the St. Patrick’s Day Parade, and quipped he was “a drinker with a writing problem.” Starting Monday, each watering hole — including McSorley’s, P.J. Clarke’s, the Ear Inn, McAleer’s and Landmark Tavern — will hand out vouchers patrons can use to increase a discount on tickets to the show. The play starring Adrian Dunbar centers on Behan’s living at the Chelsea Hotel, in 1963. Performances start Sept. 4.