Plymouth Theatre Review

Easy to Follow: 3

Family Friendly: 1.5

Must see: 2.5

Venue: The Barbican Theatre

Date: 24/10/25

Hangmen is a dark comedy by Martin McDonagh and premiered in 2015 at The Royal Court Theatre. It is set in 1965 and follows the story of Harry Wade who was an executioner (Hangman) for the courts until it was suspended in 1965. 

The Tamaritans Theatre Company’s production of Hangmen was like stepping back to the 1960s, they did a good job at captivating the tone of the time through set design, costume and mannerisms which the actors committed to throughout the performance. 

Starting off with set design (Niall Clinton, Hollie Acton and Team), the production boasted an impressive visual of a bar filled with tables and chairs,because of this I found myself thrown into the story and it almost felt like I was in the bar watching these conversations between characters play out. This then paired with a fantastic wardrobe (Head of Wardrobe: Pearl Potts, Assistant: Cherry Richards)created a wonderful setting which captivated the audience from the beginning. The costumes and set design created a clear hierarchy among the characters, most were dressed in casual clothes of the era which consisted of dull colours and sat to the side on a bar stool throughout the performance. Whereas characters such as Harry Wade (Clive Lovatt) and Alice Wade (Lesley Harris) were full of colour and jewellery and remained at centre stage throughout the performance. Harry Wade was specifically captivating as he stood tall with his head up throughout the show, indicating a sense of power and authority which definitely suited the ‘ex Hangman’. Vocally Lovatt did a fantastic job embodying such an authority figure. I think these choices by the director (Vince Sutton) were excellent and created a great dynamic amongst the cast.

When it came to the comedic aspects of the show I do think some of it was lost or didn’t quite hit the mark. There were a few moments throughout the play which built up to homophobic/misogynistic remarks which seemed to have been purposeful as ‘dark humour’ but I think alienated the audience. I believe these moments should’ve stayed in as it is important to be true to the script and time but they should have been framed in a way which showed the ignorance of the characters and not used as punchlines. This could have been done through lighting, other characters’ reactions, just something to signify it’s not meant as a joke as a couple of audience members laughed in moments which were wrong.

Outside of those moments, there were lots of other funny scenes which through body language and comedic timing were hilarious, an actor who stands out for me was Jenny Deakin who played Agnes, her use of body language, dialogue and her perfect timing meant she consistently had the audience in tears of laughter especially in the darker scenes. 

The entire ensemble did a fantastic job with their dialogue, most notably Alfred Hurst (Peter Mooney) and Rhea Preston (Shirley) whose mannerisms, accents, volume and dictation were exceptional. It is incredibly difficult to maintain an accent for a long period of time especially in a dialogue heavy show but the entire ensemble did a very good job. Because it is such a dialogue heavy show, I would’ve enjoyed to see The Tamaritans Theatre Company play around with movement and bring some non naturalistic visuals to a very naturalistic static play, purely to break up the long conversations between characters. 

Overall, I believe the Tamaratins Theatre Company did a good job to capture the tone of the play and the environment of the time. It was an impressive set design and the costumes were fantastic, the actors did a great job in their dialogue and Lovatt as Harry Wade was captivating. 

This play did not consist of trigger warnings, I would encourage The Tamaritans Theatre Company to add these to future shows as it means it is more accessible for audience members especially for a play like this.