Writer: Martin McDonagh
Director: Andrew Flynn
It’s telling when you struggle to get a table for two in the vicinity of the Gaiety Theatre early on a Monday evening. “It’s because the whole of Dublin is going to see Hangmen”, the waitress at a South William Street restaurant tells us.
Inspired by the life of notorious hangman and publican, Albert Pierrepoint, who was responsible for executing hundreds of infamous murderers and criminals, Martin McDonagh’s play brings whole new meaning to the term ‘dark comedy’. It’s clear to see why Decadent Theatre Company, who are drawn to modern, cutting-edge works, align themselves with the playwright.
The curtain comes up on the death scene of a man called ‘Henessy’. He is protesting his innocence as headman, Harry Wade and his assistant, Syd, prepare him for the noose. We get a taste of the rollercoaster of emotions the audience will be subjected to for the duration of the play. On one hand we are horrified by the terror Hennessy experiences, “I don’t wan’ an’ hood…can I not ‘ave an’ hood?”, and on the other, we laugh at the grotesquely comic turns. “Correct me English at a time like this?” and “We know you’re a good lad”…”well, what are ye hangin’ me for”. The writer reveals us in all our flawed humanity.
The first of a number of pitch-perfect music pieces from composer and sound designer, Fiona Sheil accompanies the changing of outstanding sets by Ciaran Bagnell and Set4Stage. In the dim, misty light (Bagnell/Sebastian Pizarro) the emerging interior of Wade’s bar, with beams in the shape of gallows, is reminiscent, in the first instance, of Jack the Ripper’s ‘Chamber of Horrors’ at Madame Tussauds.
Denis Conway is commanding as ‘Harry’, presiding arrogantly over his fawning cronies, Charlie, Arthur, Bill (Anthony Morris, Daniel Reardon, Joe Hanley) and Inspector Fry (Gary Lydon). The boys have opinions on just about every topic that’s raised or incident that occurs, in the bar, from poor Phyllis Keane’s incarceration in a mental hospital to stale brill cream and babycham.
The abolition of Capital Punishment has been announced and together they toast “the end of hanging”. Thus retired, the hangman “won’t know what to do with myself (himself)”. When Journalist Clegg (Joncie Elmore) arrives to interview the former executioner on “this momentous day”, Harry sacrilegiously reveals his kill count, “233”. As another, modern day Harry knows to his cost, the ensuing publication of this sacrosanct figure causes an outcry, and Pierrepoint (Peter Gowen) himself, appears later in the day to protest vigorously.
In a theme similar to one regarding the IRA in McDonagh’s The Lieutenant of Inishmore, Pierrepoint’s hanging of Germans, as a “servant of the Crown”, during the second world war is explored and questioned, “…hanging germans en masse, it ain’t our job, they’re following orders”.
Olivia Byrne as Harry’s daughter, Shirley, delivers a stand out and compelling performance. Her loving Mother, the long-suffering Alice, is ably portrayed by Aisling O’Sullivan. Killian Scott is utterly convincing as unhinged interloper Mooney, who appears on the second anniversary of Hennessy’s death. The menacing psychopath may or may not have played a role in the crimes for which the latter hung and he may or may not be implicated in Shirley’s disappearance. Robbie O’Connor plays Syd, his stutteringly anxious and aggrieved partner in crime.
The cast are first rate. The script is tight and tension grips us from beginning to end. We are metaphorically poked, prodded and put through the wringer.
If this production is a massively successful ‘tour de force’ for Director Andrew Flynn and his crew, who are too many to mention here, then McDonagh is the ‘enfant terrible’ at its core. Alongside hilarious repartée, the audience is assaulted by controversial and inappropriate asides, vulgarities and racist slurs. Though conflicted and uncomfortable, we laugh. Comedian Tommy Tiernan knows only too well how prim and prickly we Irish can sometimes be. Are we hypocrites as well?
Although McDonagh has recently stated that he holds “…a slight disrespect for theatre” (Wikipedia), ‘Hangmen’ proves just how much of a travesty it would be if he stopped writing for the stage altogether. Might this reviewer cheekily suggest a collaboration with his talented actor/writer partner, Phoebe Waller-Bridge (creator of comedy-drama ‘Fleabag’), to tempt him back? Something about the London-Irish perhaps?
Please do treat yourself and go and see the Irish premiere of this award winning, perfectly formed play, in Dublin’s iconic Gaiety. Just be sure to book your pre-theatre dinner well in advance.
Runs until 8th of April.
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