Hangmen

martin mcdonagh returns with his first UK play in over 10 years

The director of In Bruges and Seven Psychopaths returns with his first play in more than 10 years, and is set to be as gritty an affair as any of his screen projects! The story follows Harry, the second-most famous executioner in England, on the day in 1965 that saw hanging be abolished, effectively marking the end of the death penalty in this country. In a coincidental move, this play opens two months after another play about capital punishment, Hang, by Debbie Tucker Green! The play stars David Morrissey as the eponymous Harry with Reece Shearsmith and Ralph Ineson co-starring.

WHAT IS IT ABOUT?

In his small pub in Oldham, Harry holds something of a local celebrity allure; his claim to fame? He is the second most well-known hangmen in England, second only to Albert Pierrepoint. But what is Harry to do on the day they’ve abolished hanging, and to a larger extent, the death penalty? Meandering in the background of the pub, behind the cub reporters and sycophantic pub regulars who are dying to hear Harry's reaction to the news, a stranger lurks, with a very different motive for his visit.