Hangmen (play)
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''Hangmen'' is a play by the Irish playwright
Martin McDonagh Martin Faranan McDonagh (; born 26 March 1970) is a British-Irish playwright, screenwriter, producer, and director. Born and brought up in London, he is the son of Irish parents. He is known as one of the most acclaimed modern playwrights whose ...
. It received its world premiere at the Royal Court Theatre,
London London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...
, in September 2015, before transferring to the West End's Wyndham's Theatre. The play was directed by Matthew Dunster, designed by Anna Fleischle, and featured David Morrissey and Reece Shearsmith among others. It was universally acclaimed by theatre critics, and was nominated for numerous awards including the
Olivier Awards The Laurence Olivier Awards, or simply the Olivier Awards, are presented annually by the Society of London Theatre to recognise excellence in professional theatre in London at an annual ceremony in the capital. The awards were originally known as ...
, Critics' Circle Theatre Awards and the Evening Standard Theatre Awards. For its U.S. premiere in 2018 at
Off-Broadway An off-Broadway theatre is any professional theatre venue in New York City with a seating capacity between 100 and 499, inclusive. These theatres are smaller than Broadway theatres, but larger than off-off-Broadway theatres, which seat fewer tha ...
's
Atlantic Theater Company Atlantic Theater Company is an Off-Broadway non-profit theater, whose mission is to produce great plays "simply and truthfully utilizing an artistic ensemble." The company was founded in 1985 by David Mamet, William H. Macy, and 30 of their actin ...
, ''Hangmen'' won the
New York Drama Critics' Circle Award The New York Drama Critics' Circle is made up of 22 drama critics from daily newspapers, magazines and wire services based in the New York City metropolitan area. The organization is best known for its annual awards for excellence in theater.Jone ...
for Best Foreign Play.


Synopsis

After a 1963 prologue showing British executioner Harry Wade at work, hanging a man, Hennessy, who goes to his grave proclaiming his innocence and pronouncing a curse on Harry, ''Hangmen'' flashes forward to 1965 in a town in northern England. The action centers around Harry, who we discover is the second-best hangman in the land. Harry owns a pub that he also lives above with his wife, Alice, and his fifteen-year-old daughter, Shirley. Harry is contending with the abolition of hanging in Britain while the pub is filled with cronies and sycophants, as well as a journalist who is trying to interview Harry about the abolition. Despite continually protesting that he has nothing to say on the record, Harry eventually takes the journalist upstairs and gives him an extensive interview, complete with disparaging remarks about the number-one hangman in England, named Pierrepont. A smiling but menacing stranger named Mooney comes to the pub and stirs up some trouble, causing consternation among Harry and his cronies. Mooney inquires if there are any rooms about to let, and Alice offers him a room upstairs. But when Alice tries to call his references, Mooney explodes. Mooney also creepily flirts with Harry's daughter, Shirley, who later appears to go missing. Over the next day or so, Mooney toys with Harry and leads him and his wife to believe that Mooney has kidnapped their daughter, Shirley. We learn that Mooney is in cahoots with Syd, one of the men in the bar and Harry's assistant hangman whom Harry has always treated with contempt. Syd is conspiring with Mooney to take Harry down a peg, but it becomes clear that Mooney may have more on his mind than just scaring Harry. Mooney's taunting eventually pushes Harry and his cronies to put a noose around his neck and stand him on a chair to force him to reveal Shirley's whereabouts. Suddenly, Pierrepont, the best hangman in England, storms into the bar to confront Harry about the disparaging remarks Harry made about Pierrepont in the paper. This forces Harry and his crew to hide the now choking Mooney behind a curtain. When Pierrepont eventually leaves, Harry and company discover Mooney has been hanged behind the curtain, which was apparently Mooney's goal all along. Shirley returns to the bar, completely unharmed. The play ends with Harry and his friends soberly reflecting on what they have done, while Harry is also forced to deal with the justification of the hanging he performed at the very beginning of the play.


Production history

''Hangmen'' is written by playwright
Martin McDonagh Martin Faranan McDonagh (; born 26 March 1970) is a British-Irish playwright, screenwriter, producer, and director. Born and brought up in London, he is the son of Irish parents. He is known as one of the most acclaimed modern playwrights whose ...
. The play is set primarily in Oldham during 1965 and centres around the abolition of the
death penalty in the United Kingdom Capital punishment in the United Kingdom predates the formation of the UK, having been used within the British Isles from ancient times until the second half of the 20th century. The last executions in the United Kingdom were by hanging, and t ...
. On 15 July 2015, it was announced by
artistic director An artistic director is the executive of an arts organization, particularly in a theatre or dance company, who handles the organization's artistic direction. They are generally a producer and director, but not in the sense of a mogul, since the ...
Vicky Featherstone, that the play would receive its world premiere as part of the Royal Court Theatre's autumn 2015 season. It marked McDonagh's first London play since 2003, when '' The Pillowman'' debuted at the National Theatre. The play began previews on 10 September 2015, with an official opening night on 18 September, booking for a limited period until 10 October. The play is directed by Matthew Dunster, with
fight direction Stage combat, fight craft or fight choreography is a specialised technique in theatre designed to create the illusion of physical combat without causing harm to the performers. It is employed in live stage plays as well as operatic and ballet p ...
by Kate Waters, design by Anna Fleischle, lighting design by Joshua Carr and sound design by Ian Dickinson. Following its premiere production the play transferred to the West End's Wyndham's Theatre, where it began previews on 1 December 2015, with its official opening night on 7 December, booking until 5 March 2016. A typical performance ran two hours and thirty minutes, including one interval. ''Hangmen'' was published by
Faber and Faber Faber and Faber Limited, usually abbreviated to Faber, is an independent publishing house in London. Published authors and poets include T. S. Eliot (an early Faber editor and director), W. H. Auden, Margaret Storey, William Golding, Samuel B ...
on 17 September 2015 and received a National Theatre Live broadcast on 3 March 2016. An encore broadcast was shown at selected
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across the UK on 22 March 2016. The Royal Court production transferred to
Off-Broadway An off-Broadway theatre is any professional theatre venue in New York City with a seating capacity between 100 and 499, inclusive. These theatres are smaller than Broadway theatres, but larger than off-off-Broadway theatres, which seat fewer tha ...
at the
Atlantic Theater Company Atlantic Theater Company is an Off-Broadway non-profit theater, whose mission is to produce great plays "simply and truthfully utilizing an artistic ensemble." The company was founded in 1985 by David Mamet, William H. Macy, and 30 of their actin ...
in
New York New York most commonly refers to: * New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York * New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States New York may also refer to: Film and television * '' ...
from 18 January to 4 March 2018, with original cast members Reece Shearsmith,
Sally Rogers Sally Rogers (born 1964) is an English actress, best known for her role as Detective Constable/Sgt. Jo Masters in ITV's ''The Bill''. Rogers trained as a children's nanny, before taking up acting at the age of 20. She studied at Webber Dougl ...
and
Johnny Flynn John Patrick Vivian Flynn (born 14 March 1983) is a British actor and singer-songwriter. He has starred as Dylan Witter in the Channel 4 and Netflix television sitcom '' Lovesick'', and portrayed David Bowie in the film '' Stardust''. Flynn i ...
returning. The play was scheduled to open on Broadway at the John Golden Theatre on 19 March 2020, but the run was cancelled because of the
COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic, also known as the coronavirus pandemic, is an ongoing global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The novel virus was first identif ...
after thirteen previews. In February 2022, it was announced that the play was once again scheduled to premiere at the John Golden Theatre on April 21 of that year, with previews beginning April 8. The production saw most of the 2020 cast return, with the exception of
Dan Stevens Daniel Jonathan Stevens (born 10 October 1982) is a British actor and writer. He first drew international attention for his role as Matthew Crawley in the ITV acclaimed period drama series ''Downton Abbey'' (2010–2012). He also starred as D ...
as Mooney, Mark Addy as Harry and Ewen Bremner as Syd, replaced respectively by Alfie Allen, David Threlfall and
Andy Nyman Andrew Nyman (born 13 April 1966) is an English actor, director, writer and magician. Early life and career Nyman was born on 13 April 1966 in Leicester, Leicestershire. His first noteworthy performance was in 2000 as Keith Whitehead in '' Dead ...
. The production closed on June 18, 2022.


Principal roles and original cast


Critical reception

The play has received positive reviews from critics. The show won for best play and best set design at the
2016 Laurence Olivier Awards The 2016 Laurence Olivier Awards were held on Sunday 3 April 2016 at the Royal Opera House, London. The 40th anniversary ceremony was hosted by Michael Ball. A highlights show was broadcast on ITV shortly after the live event ended. Eligibili ...
as well as being nominated in the best director category. It also won best play and best designer at the Critics' Circle Theatre Awards 2015 and best design at the ''Evening Standard'' Theatre Awards 2015.


Awards and nominations


Original London production


Original Broadway production


References

{{OlivierAward Play 2001–2025 2015 plays English plays Plays by Martin McDonagh Plays set in England Plays set in the 1960s West End plays