Harry’s passion for executing by the noose runs deep.
Yet sadly, when one’s entire career is built on such an efficient way of offing another who is (or isn’t) guilty, and that disappears, other forms of corporal punishment don’t satisfy in the same way. A guillotine slice, for example, may be nice, but they are entirely too messy. And just too darn French.
In San Jose Stage’s stupendous, darkly comic West Coast premiere of Martin McDonagh’s “Hangmen,” there are laughs aplenty, with James Reese’s direction punctuating a storyline that powers through incessant bouts of macabre hilarity.
The histrionics and razor-sharp irony that McDonagh is known for plays well in the quaint theater space, interpreted by an all-star cast of San Jose Stage Company regulars.
The abolition of hanging has just arrived in 1965 England, a devastating blow to Harry (Will Springhorn Jr.) who has built a career sending mortals to the bottom. Sadly, he is still one rung below Pierrepoint (Julian Lopez-Morillas), the greatest hanger in history, which sticks in Harry’s craw. Pierrepoint is credited with many of history’s most consequential hangings, but the point is moot considering that this career shall now find permanent rest in the gallows.
While Harry is quick to dismiss a reporter (Matthew Locke) who wants his perspective on the new law, the reporter threatens to acquire a quote from Pierrepoint as a more worthy viewpoint. Harry allows his ego to lock horns with the intrepid reporter through some serious candor. What comes is is a collection of dismissive, on-the-record perspectives about Pierrepoint, a real-life hanger, as another of Harry’s critical issues begins to take root.
Dashing and dapper Mooney (Matthew Kropschot) bops into the pub that’s full of Harry’s buddies, a group of hangers-on who laugh at all the right moments, pumping up Harry as he attempts to slow his entry into irrelevance. Mooney has some dastardly plans, immediately working his magnetism as he attempts to land a rented room in Harry’s lodge. First off is a shot at charming the socks off Harry’s wife Alice (Judith Miller) and insecure mope of a daughter Shirley (Carley Herlihy).
But who is this mod, mop-top Mooney fella? There is concerning news from Harry’s former assistant Syd (Keith Pinto), reporting that an innocent man from years prior might have been hanged, and Mooney may be the actual crook looking to continue inflicting damage. It’s not quite alarming enough for Shirley, whose lack of social cue pickup leads to an ill-advised trip with the slimy scoundrel.
McDonagh’s bloody, savage mastery of the darkness within his coruscating turns of phrases serves his work incredibly well (the hilarity of Padraic furiously mourning his cat in “The Lieutenant of Inishmore” comes to mind). There is no shortage of the same sort of comedic stylings within “Hangmen.” While Reese’s staging does not always present the cleanest of tableaus or movement, the effusive vigor of the cast — accentuated mightily by Kimberly Mohne Hill’s sterling dialect direction, with accents as thick as the pints served up in the pub — allows the writing’s bevy of glottal stops and jibber jabber to move forward with consistent expedience.
Where the play gains its wings is in the robbery that many of the cast inflicts on the story, stealing scenes with rapid fire precision. Springhorn Jr. is adept at playing unlikeable, leaning in deeply towards Harry’s lack of self-interrogation. His is a terrific commitment to blustery brutishness, even through wicked insecurity that creeps inside his jilted psyche.
Kropschot is a delightful dervish, gleefully portraying a villain that veers into Iago-ish tendencies. Herlihy’s interpretation of a 15-year-old girl, especially in scenes with veteran Miller, is all about talking too loud and thinking too soft, which is supremely pleasing. Pinto’s consistent abilities to morph fluidly within so many different characters and styles have been displayed in his many turns at the Stage. Here’s he chooses pathetic timidity and apologetic body language for his sad-sack Syd.
Robert Pickering’s scenic design offers hints of the denizens of roguish knaves that occupy the pub, with the only real splash of color a framed Manchester United poster that sits above the proceedings. And the collection of joyful costumes from designer Ashley Garlick is another feather in the cap that unifies the highly stylized satirical storyline of McDonagh’s wittily conceived arcs.
The play’s tidy ending is a solid coalescing of the story led by the talented collection of performers who giddily reveal the play’s universe. Thanks to this commitment, and the many moments that take place at the behest of Harry, the performers ensure that this production of “Hangmen” slays.
David John Chávez is chair of the American Theatre Critics Association and a two-time juror for the Pulitzer Prize for Drama (‘22-‘23); @davidjchavez
‘HANGMEN’
By Martin McDonagh, presented by San Jose Stage Company
Through: April 28
Where: San Jose Stage, 490 S.1st St., San Jose
Running time: 2 hours, 30 minutes with an intermission
Tickets: $34-$74; www.thestage.org