From the devilishly inspired mind of Martin McDonagh—Academy Award®–winning writer of THREE BILLBOARDS OUTSIDE EBBING, MISSOURI—comes HANGMEN, a killer comedy nominated for 5 Tony Awards® including Best Play. What’s Britain’s second-most famous executioner to do now that hanging has been abolished?
Drink, of course. But when a cub reporter and a mysterious stranger turn up at his pub, everything hangs in the balance. HANGMEN marks McDonagh’s seventh play on Broadway, following his Tony-nominated productions of THE PILLOWMAN and THE LIEUTENANT OF INISHMORE. Winner of the Olivier Award for Best New Play and Set Design, HANGMEN plays a strictly limited engagement at the Golden Theatre after multiple sold-out engagements in London and Off-Broadway’s Atlantic Theatre Company.
What keeps you focused on Hangmen is the retro mood and the superb ensemble, not innovative storytelling or genuine insight into character. His plays are tightly constructed, with dialogue that uses repetition and profanity to musical effect, but they are woefully mechanical. Once you realize that McDonagh's M.O. is crudely to undermine expectations, you expect the undermining, and boredom sets in. After nearly 30 years, his view of humanity has barely evolved: men are brutal bastards, women aren't much better, law and justice are a farce, and I'm rather handsome.
Now, following another two-year wait, 'Hangmen' is finally opening on Broadway - but without Johnny Flynn, who gave an electrifying, star-making performance as Mooney in the London and Off-Broadway productions. (In 2020, Mooney was played by Dan Stevens of 'Downton Abbey.') Notwithstanding, Allen and the rest of the current cast are great (though Threlfall appeared to be experiencing some vocal difficulties at my performance) and the lively production (directed by Matthew Dunster, with a rich scenic design) finds an ideal balance between roaring entertainment and grim uneasiness.
2015 | West End |
Original West End Production West End |
2018 | Off-Broadway |
Atlantic Theater Company US Premiere Off-Broadway |
2022 | Broadway |
Broadway Premiere Broadway |
Year | Ceremony | Category | Nominee |
---|---|---|---|
2022 | Drama League Awards | Outstanding Direction of a Play | Matthew Dunster |
2022 | Drama League Awards | Outstanding Production of a Play | Hangmen |
2022 | Tony Awards | Best Lighting Design of a Play | Joshua Carr |
2022 | Tony Awards | Best Performance by an Actor in a Featured Role in a Play | Alfie Allen |
2022 | Tony Awards | Best Performance by an Actor in a Leading Role in a Play | David Threlfall |
2022 | Tony Awards | Best Play | Hangmen |
2022 | Tony Awards | Best Scenic Design of a Play | Anna Fleischle |
2021 | Theatre World Awards | Theatre World Awards | Gaby French |
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