'The Friends Of Eddie Coyle' Hits The Stage

06:29

December 08, 2011

Jeremy Lee as Jackie Brown (left) and Paulo Branco as Eddie Coyle (right) rehearsing a new stage version of "The Friends of Eddie Coyle." (Adam Ragusea/WBUR)

"The Friends of Eddie Coyle" is regarded as the founding tome of the wildly popular "Boston Noir" sub-genre of crime fiction.

George V. Higgins released his debut novel in 1970 while still working as an assistant US Attorney in Boston. And if you pick up a copy, you'll see that there's almost no narration. It's mostly page after page of unmistakably Bostonian dialogue.

That dialogue was first brought to life in the 1973 movie version. Now a local theatre group has adapted the novel for the stage. Their production premiers Thursday at Oberon in Harvard Square. We get a preview.

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"The Friends of Eddie Coyle" at Oberon, December 8th through January 15th

This program aired on December 8, 2011.