Review - Hangmen - People's Theatre

Hangmen  

People's Theatre

4th March 2025

Hangmen, by Martin McDonagh tells the sad tale of Harry Wade - the second best hangman in the country, Whose pride and ego get the better of him. Recently retired after the abolition of capital punishment, Harry is making his way as a pub landlord, surrounded by a motley collection of pub regulars who swarm round him like flies on a corpse, attracted by the stench of  his morbid former profession. A young reporter sees his opportunity for a scoop if he can just get Wade to give his views on the abolition of hanging...Wade makes a show of being principled and refusing to be drawn, until the mention of his rival, Pierrepoint. His hubris is such that he cannot bear the thought that Pierrepoint might beat him to the chase once again and the young reporter gets his story.  

Into this maelstrom of male posturing comes a stranger from London - Mr Mooney. He seems affable, yet his presence is disturbing and sends ripples of uncertainty through the pub. Mooney is trouble - we know it, but we don't quite know how, or why.

As the play progresses, Wade becomes more boastful, Mooney more menacing. There is talk of a miscarriage of justice, a teenager goes missing, a former colleague seeks revenge and things do not go to plan. Not the stuff of comedy, you might think, yet this is a very funny play. This black, if you'll pardon the pun, gallows humour, is distinctly British and we are very good at it. McDonagh's play presents an array of eccentric characters, in an absurd situation and with them he raises questions about the cruelty, the unfairness, and ultimately, the absurdity of life: questions that we might find difficult to deal with without the humour.

Director Matthew Hope's direction, has produced an astonishingly funny play. The casting is excellent. Ian Willis excels as the posturing "cock of the north" Wade, strutting and crowing for his audience, while Alison Carr as his wife Alice, punctures his hubris with beautifully acerbic commentary on his character and achievements, or lack of them. Craig Fairbairn, as Mooney, imbues the character with menace through a shrug, a glance and a sudden chill in the tone of his voice. 

You can almost smell the stale beer oozing from the set, and a selection of sixties songs makes for a very apposite sound track.  

Hangmen plays until Saturday 8th March.  Disturbing, and darkly funny, it is the People's at its best!

*image by Paul Hood

Denise Sparrowhawk