Hangmen

New Kinver Players’ “Hangmen” is one of the Martin McDonagh’s slightly less dark plays even though the subject matter – build up to the abolition of hanging, most certainly is not. 

The scene is set with a 1950’s prison cell as we meet the central characters of our story – the Hangman, Harry, played with great sensitivity with an undercurrent of mystery by Peter Chambers makes you want to find out more about him and his motivation and the prisoner, Hennessey, who believes he is soon to be meet his final encounter with Harry, only to find that Harry has some ground breaking news – hanging is to be abolished and he has lost his job! We get an insight into his thoughts and exploring the barbarism of a sentence passed and on the statute books only 70 years ago.

This thought-provoking scene seamlessly transitions to an utterly realistic set, the bar of a city pub with all the accoutrements and characters that you would expect – real ale, ashtrays, dart board, the friendly mine host and his wife and a range of regular customers who treat any strangers with caution and tension. All credit to Director, Ruth Cattell’s concept and design, Neil Milton’s set construction and an incredible range of authentic props sourced by Diane Baugh and Kate Byford complemented by atmospheric lighting by Frank Latham and Ashley Chambers and sound by Martin Ward all under the guidance of Stage Manager Hannah Grindy.

It transpires that it is Harry’s pub and we see the incongruity between his jovial host and his job, ably supported by Jo Tranter as Alice, his wife, constantly having to reinforce the bonhomie of the pub, which she achieves magnificently as well as dealing with their shy daughter, Shirley, sensitively played by Phoebe Devenney. Other patrons include Harry’s, former assistant, Syd, played by Mark Moran who’s matter of fact attitude to the subject matter and his undisputed loyalty to his former boss make you question your own morals – he really believes what he says and Mark puts it across superbly. Charley, Mike Galikowski, Bill, Bill Heeks and Arthur, Chris Lees are the redoubtable and regular bar-flys, offering utterly ridiculous home-grown wisdom and providing great comedy moments, lightening up the serious implication of the storyline. A local reporter, Clegg, played by Matt Field is there to get Harry’s reaction to the recent news and has to convince the assembled party that he can be trusted and get them on his side, Matt very cleverly achieves this with his consistent guile and persuasion. They are all a bit more cautious of Inspector Fry, played by Philip Drinkwater who is often the voice of reason who also know that his well-intentioned advice will be disregarded and gives the character the gravitas and occasional humour that it richly deserves.  The ubiquitous stranger also arrives on the scene, Mooney, a mysterious and charismatic yet vaguely unsettling character that keeps you constantly guessing and played perfectly by Oliver Smith, a major tour de force who’s stage presence is magnetic throughout although unnerving you cannot take your eyes off him.

To quote Harry, “I’m just as good as bloody Pierrepoint”, the famous Albert Pierrepoint, the previous and more famous hangman, also makes an appearance, played by Richard Delahaye, his strength of character looms over the more inadequate Harry, which also brings into question Harry’s ideals and motivation.

This thought-provoking production was a delight, many congratulations to Ruth and everyone at New Kinver Players for this great achievement.  Thank you for making me feel so welcome as always.

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