“Sheffield was on fire. It was glowing orange, like hell, like a furnace, like steel.”
On the December 12, 1940, during World War II, a single bomb reduced the Marples Hotel, which stood proudly in Fitzalan Square in Sheffield, from seven stories to just 15 feet of rubble. Only one of the ten compartments in the hotel’s cellars withstood the blast. Trapped within it were four men.

This is their story, from beginning to end…

“A SMASHING FIRST PLAY BY KIERAN KNOWLES… A CAST OF EXACTLY FOUR, ON A NEAR NAKED STAGE, MANAGED TO SUMMON THE ENORMITY OF THE SHEFFIELD BLITZ.”
– Ben Brantley, The New York Times

★★★★ “GORGEOUSLY POETIC…THESE MEN AND THEIR STORIES STAY WITH YOU.”
– The Stage

Buy Tickets for Selected Show
$35.00 (59E59 MEMBERS $24.50)
FIRST LOOK: $25
May 8 & 9 Only

Tue – Fri at 7:15
Sat at 2:15 & 7:15
Sun at 2:15

Operation Crucible by Kieran Knowles (who is also a cast member, playing the affable Tommy) is part of the Brits Off Broadway series at 59E59 Theaters.  Alternating between harrowing and charming, the play tells the story of a quartet of lads from Sheffield, England who work in the steel mills and their experience with the war time tragedy of the Sheffield Blitz during World War II.  On December 12, 1940 Germany relentlessly bombed this industrial city in an effort to destroy the factories where parts for ships, planes, tanks and bombs were being made.  Bombs also fell on residential areas including the posh Marples Hotel in Fitzalan Square, where one bomb decimated the seven-story building to piles of rubble, killing 70 people.  In Operation Crucible, these four young men become trapped in the basement of the hotel, which was also used as a bomb shelter. Directed with imagination and taut pacing by Bryony Shanahan, the performances are sublime.  Salvatore D’Aquila (Bob), Mr. Knowles, Christopher McCurry (Phil) and James Wallwork (Arthur) create finely etched characters both emotionally and physically with only a bare stage, four stools and a few costume pieces. Sophia Simensky’s e …Read more