{"id":452795,"date":"2026-09-04T01:48:14","date_gmt":"2026-09-04T01:48:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/452795\/"},"modified":"2026-09-04T01:48:14","modified_gmt":"2026-09-04T01:48:14","slug":"hangmen-lesser-mcdonagh-imperfectly-staged-but-still-fun","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/452795\/","title":{"rendered":"\u201cHangmen\u201d: Lesser McDonagh, imperfectly staged \u2014 but still fun –"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"Photo<\/a>Photo by Michael Hardy Photography <\/p>\n

You can rely on Martin McDonagh. Black humor. Sardonicism. Impending menace. Clever twists. Simple phrases reworked \u2018til they rise above their simplicity.<\/p>\n

But a potential downside to that reliability is that McDonagh\u2019s lesser works inevitably put you in mind of his best. Hangmen \u2014 which Long Beach Playhouse delivers solidly if a tad too rigidly \u2014 falls in the former category. It\u2019s a good play (with the exception of Seven Psychopaths, everything he\u2019s penned ranges from good to transcendent) \u2014 it just doesn\u2019t do itself any favors by being so identifiable as by the author of The Pillowman<\/a> and The Banshees of Inisherin and Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s 1965, and England has just outlawed capital punishment. But Harry (Noah Wagner), the second-most famous hangman in the land, still has his pub, his long-suffering wife (Amanda Karr), and Shirley (Dina Hagler), their 15-year-old daughter. Then a vaguely menacing young man (Trevor Hart) comes around stirring up trouble for Harry and his family. Needless to say, things are about to go bad for someone.<\/p>\n

The primary flaw in the Playhouse\u2019s production is that there isn\u2019t enough overlap in the cast\u2019s energy. Because McDonagh\u2019s language is so precise \u2014 even apparently throwaway lines are often picked up later \u2014 the instinct never to let one character\u2019s dialog to bleed over into another\u2019s is understandable. But allowing a few rough edges, a little more conversational free-flow, might better serve the overall vibe. There\u2019s also too much stiffness in the play\u2019s most physical moments \u2014 simulating rather than doing.<\/p>\n

With the collective energy not always hitting the mark, it\u2019s no surprise that the standout scene is the set piece when English\u2019s #1 hangman, Albert Pierrepoint (James Matthis), turns up. Because we knew he was coming (the title is plural, not to mention all that shit-talking Harry did earlier), he damn well better bring it \u2014 and Matthis properly dominates the room from the moment he darkens Harry\u2019s door. And it\u2019s not just him: everyone on stage plays the moment just right.<\/p>\n

The other cast standout is James Rice as Arthur, a half-deaf barfly. To be sure, it\u2019s a lucky bloke who lands this role, which McDonagh has bestowed with a particular series of gags that get funnier with each iteration. Rice makes the most of his bounty with spot-on timing and deadpan delivery.<\/p>\n

Hangmen\u2019s action takes place almost exclusively in Harry\u2019s pub. Because Mitchell Dambrowski has done such a fine job fabricating the establishment, it\u2019s all the more noticeable that the liquid the Playhouse has chosen as a stand-in for beer has no head whatsoever. Pints are ever-present in Hangmen, and so watching Harry constantly pull glasses of apple juice (?) undercuts our sense of place. Along the same lines: if a character comes out of the pouring rain without an umbrella and its commented upon that she\u2019s \u201cdrenched,\u201d it\u2019s a problem when the audience is looking at someone who\u2019s dry as a bone. Suspension of disbelief is one thing, but\u2026.<\/p>\n

Although Hangmen is not Martin McDonagh\u2019s best and the staging isn\u2019t perfect, the bottom line is that this is a fun show.<\/p>\n

Hangmen at Long Beach Playhouse
Times: Fri\u2013Sat 8pm, Sun 2pm
The show runs through September 26.
Cost: $36
Details: (562) 494-1014; LBplayhouse.org
<\/a>Venue: Long Beach Playhouse, 5021 E. Anaheim St., Long Beach<\/p>\n

Related<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Photo by Michael Hardy Photography You can rely on Martin McDonagh. Black humor. Sardonicism. Impending menace. Clever twists.…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":452796,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[33],"tags":[178906,9720,178907,178908,76343,50434,178909,178910,178911,178912,178913,131,133,132,9722],"class_list":["post-452795","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-long-beach","tag-blackcomedy","tag-curtaincall","tag-hangmen","tag-livetheater","tag-longbeacharts","tag-longbeachplayhouse","tag-longbeachtheater","tag-martinmcdonagh","tag-southerncaliforniatheater","tag-theatercriticism","tag-theaterreview","tag-long-beach","tag-long-beach-headlines","tag-long-beach-news","tag-rln"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/452795","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=452795"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/452795\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/452796"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=452795"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=452795"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=452795"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}