Hangmen

A SAMUEL FRENCH, LTD. TITLE

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Cast Size

2w, 12m, 2any gender (adult)
Duration

More than 120 minutes (2 hours)
Target Audience

Adult, Senior, Teen (Age 14-18)

Accolades

Nominee: Five 2022 Tony Awards, including Best Play
Winner! Two 2016 Olivier Awards, including Best New Play
Winner! 2015 Critics' Circle Theatre Award for Best New Play

Details

Summary

I'm just as good as bloody Pierrepoint.

In his small pub in Oldham, Harry is something of a local celebrity. But what's the second-best hangman in England to do on the day they've abolished hanging? Amongst the cub reporters and sycophantic pub regulars, dying to hear Harry's reaction to the news, a peculiar stranger lurks, with a very different motive for his visit.

Don't worry. I may have my quirks but I'm not an animal. Or am I? One for the courts to discuss.

History

Martin McDonagh's Hangmen premiered at the Royal Court Theatre, London, in September 2015.

Keywords

Time Period 1960s
Features Period Costumes
Additional Features Special Effects
Duration More than 120 minutes (2 hours)
Cautions
- Strong Language

Media

“Corrosively funny.” – Variety

“Gripping, funny and dramatically tense, Hangmen is a thoroughly great play… riveting from start to finish. Almost every line is laugh-out-loud funny, every moment filled with dramatic tension.” – The Sunday Times

“A flawless treat.” – The Independent

“Pitch-perfect… this look back in sharp-eyed wonder at the grimmer side of the swinging Sixties doesn’t loosen its grip from start to finish. It’s perhaps the most line-by-line funny play London has seen in years.” – The Daily Telegraph

“Hangmen is not an argument but an atmosphere. It absorbs the audience into another culture. It re-presents the 60s.” – The Guardian

“A juicy tale of capital punishment and other forms of retribution.” – The New York Times