‘Hangmen’: McDonagh leaves us hanging

‘HANGMEN’: Alfie Allen & David Threlfall. Photo: Joan Marcus.

HANGMEN
Written by Martin McDonagh
Directed by Matthew Dunster
Through June 18, 2022
John Golden Theatre
252 West 45th Street
(212-239-6200), www.HangmenBroadway.com

By David NouNou

Martin McDonagh’s new play Hangmen is like a foreign film that you have been anticipating to see for a long time, only to find out it has no subtitles or translations.

Excluding the brilliant movie Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri, which is set in America, whether writing for the screen (In Bruges ) or for the theater (The Beauty Queen of Leenane, The Lieutenant of Inishmore, The Pillowman and The Cripple of Inishmaan), there are always thick Irish accents and colloquialisms one has to navigate through in anything written by Mr. McDonagh.  After a few minutes, one gets into the swing of the rhythm of his writings and understands what is being said. Hangmen is set in Lancashire, in northwest England, and is spoken in “English” but is more incomprehensible than any of his other works. Whether it is local colloquialisms, rapid-fire delivery—necessary in some instances—or the extreme, heavily laid on accents, by intermission, one longs for subtitles.

Starting in 1963 set in a prisoner’s cell, a hanging takes place of an innocent man, Hennessey (Josh Goulding). It is presided over by Harry Wade (David Threlfall), the second-best hangman in England. So far, so good.

It is now 1965, hanging in England has been abolished, and what is a hangman to do? Set designer Anna Fleischle has figured it out.  The cell where the hanging took place miraculously elevates and the stage is transformed to a pub. Harry is married to Alice (Tracie Bennett) and they have a 15-year-old daughter, Shirley (Gaby French) and are the owners of Harry’s Pub. The pub is frequented by Harry’s chums and former colleagues. Harry, being interviewed by the Oldham Gazette for his 233 hangings, has now become a local celebrity. Different people come to the pub, among them a newcomer from London, Mooney (Alfie Allen). Mooney likes to be menacing; he flirts with Shirley to get under Harry’s skin. The next day he comes back to the pub and insinuates to Harry and Alice that he has kidnapped Shirley and killed her.

A Martin McDonagh work—whether a film or a play—is always an event, because there is a brilliant edge to his dark humor and the twists and turns he supplies are a joyous thrill ride. In Hangmen, one keeps waiting for these twists and turns, but the proceedings are so mired with the indecipherable language that even the humor gets bogged down and lost in the proceedings. This is where director Matthew Dunster should have stepped in and realized that it is harder for American audiences to comprehend all the dialogue spoken. He should have had the actors slow down the speed of delivery of the minor and some of the major characters, and simplified the heavy accents a bit to make the proceedings easier for Americans to understand.

Again, I have to mention Ms. Fleischle’s set, as being a remarkable master class for any student who has aspirations in going into that theatrical field, and Joshua Carr’s lighting gives a suspenseful and terrifying edge to the proceedings.

David Threlfall superbly plays the long-winded, pompous, self-proclaimed celebrity hangman, the diabolical Harry Wade. He enjoys hanging people just for the sport of it, regardless of being guilty or innocent. He is an innocent man’s nightmare.

The foil to the hangman is Alfie Allen’s menacing Mooney. Starting out as just being an interloper and then becoming a thorn in Wade’s side, Mr. Allen is excellent, so reminiscent of the British bad boys of the early films of the 1960s, the likes of: Albert Finney, Tom Courtney and Alan Bates.

Tracie Bennett as the put-upon wife, Alice, is touching and moving and holds her own with a stage full of men. Also, a delightful performance is given by John Hodgkinson, as Albert Pierrepoint, the number-one hangman in England.

With all the good creative elements that take place in this play, we are still left hanging.

Edited by Scott Harrah
Published April 24, 2022
Reviewed at April 23, 2022 press performance.

‘HANGMEN’: (left to right) Jeremy Crutchley, RIchard Hollis, David Threlfall, Tracie Bennett, Ryan Pope, John Horton & Owen Campbell. Photo: Joan Marcus.

‘HANGMEN’: (left to right) David Threlfall, Andy Nyman, Richard Hollis, John Horton & Ryan Pope. Photo: Joan Marcus

‘HANGMEN’: Alfie Allen & Gaby French. Photo: Joan Marcus.

‘HANGMEN’: Tracie Bennett & Gaby French. Photo: Joan Marcus.