Luis Hernandez: This is The Public’s Radio, I’m Luis Hernandez. For Artscape this week, producer James Baumgartner and I saw “Hangmen” at the Gamm Theatre in Warwick. Written by Martin McDonagh and directed by The Gamm’s artistic director, Tony Estrella. James is here with me now to discuss the play. James, what’s it all about?
James Baumgartner: It’s a comedy about a fictional “second-most famous hangman in Britain.” There’s a prologue that takes place at an execution in 1963, The story centers on Harry Wade, the executioner.
Luis: This is a dark, dark comedy and it lets you know that in that first scene because right away, a man named Hennessy is executed – and he’s protesting his innocence as the guards are dragging him to the gallows. But I was laughing the whole time because it’s done with very dry humor. Like as Hennessy is clinging to the railing, the executioner’s assistant tells him, “If you’d’ve just tried to relax you could’ve been dead by now.”
James: Yeah, and they also correct his grammar. It’s an interesting contrast between that uptight British-ness and the underlying violence of capital punishment. After the prologue, the action moves to a pub, owned by Harry Wade, the executioner. And it’s 1965, just as the U.K. has outlawed capital punishment. Here, we get to see Harry Wade’s vanity as he struts in front of the regulars at the pub and refuses to answer a reporter’s questions about Harry’s thoughts on the end of capital punishment.
Luis: Yeah, but he eventually gives in to the reporter’s questions because he really does want to share his opinions about capital punishment with the world – as well as settle some scores with his rival, Pierrepont, the most famous hangman in Britain. And then there’s Mooney, the menacing mysterious outsider.
James: He just seems to be there to mess with Harry and the other people at the pub. I loved John Hardin in this role, I could feel his delight in being annoying to the other characters and sowing the seeds of doubt about that execution we saw earlier – that maybe they got the wrong man. Harry Wade is played by Steve Kidd who shows the character as a boasting, resentful bully hidden behind a bowtie like a veneer of respectability.
Luis: The few shows I’ve seen at the Gamm, they never disappoint when it comes to the set. This time it’s on two levels, with a beautiful, cozy English Pub on the lower level and the residence up above. The Gamm’s stage is small, but they fill it with action. But something that didn’t work well for me was the transition between the scenes, there’s music, the Beatles’ “Hard Day’s Night” and there’s text telling you that it’s 1965. I didn’t see that as necessary, it didn’t do anything for me.
James: I disagree with you there. The year is very important. This is a transitional moment between the old stodgy Britain, and swinging London as personified by the creepy Mooney. This was the year that capital punishment ended in the U.K. The play was written more than 50 years after those events.
Luis: And we’re watching the play in the U.S. 60 years later where people were executed just last month, which adds an interesting element. Because it does seem like McDonagh is using the story to get his audience to think about what motivates us in situations where we seek to punish someone – is it justice or is it revenge?
James: And Martin McDonagh has said in interviews that it’s not an ‘issue play,’ but he’s obviously using this specific issue to get us to think about these questions. But really at its heart, it’s a dark comedy-thriller with some elements of mystery to it and I think it was a pleasure to watch.
Luis: I loved it as well. It also gave me a sense like I was watching “Cheers” – the pub with all the guys at the end of the bar. Loved it. You can see “Hangmen” at the Gamm Theatre, on now through November 26th.
The Gamm Theatre is an underwriter of The Public’s Radio. The Public’s Radio makes its editorial and coverage decisions independent of business support.
