Martin McDonagh is currently nominated for two Academy Awards as the writer and co-producer of Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri. As a playwright, his resume includes The Beauty Queen of Leenane, The Cripple of Inishmaan, and The Pillowman. Given Mr. McDonagh’s track record and this play’s title, it’s a safe bet that Hangmen will be at least ominous in tone. By the end, this dark comedy lands firmly in inky black territory, at night, without the benefit of any moonlight while wearing an eye mask. Hangmen is fantastic.
Set in the mid-1960s in Lancashire, England, the play is first about a man named Harry (Mark Addy) who hangs other men sentenced to death. He is considered the second best executioner in the land after Albert (Maxwell Caulfield). While Albert has more hangings to his credit, they were Nazis, so those deaths have “an asterisk” when comparing body count. The opening scene shows one such episode in a gallows with a boy protesting his innocence. Two years later, hanging has since been abolished. Harry, his wife and daughter now own a pub filled with assorted characters. One day, a wily stranger appears.
Hangmen is mesmerizing, combining terrifying thoughts and ideas with a liberal dose of comedy. The play sheds a light on attitudes back in the 1960s while also exaggerating the relentless desire for celebrity, no matter what the cost. The entire cast is superb throughout. Each character is distinct and realistic, yet theatrical. The words are even better, eliciting a “wow” from my mouth on numerous occasions. Hangmen is another triumph for the Atlantic Theater Company.
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