Martin McDonagh

Review: ‘Hangmen’ Puts the Death Penalty on Trial

Martin McDonagh wrote a doozy of a role when he created “Hangmen’s” Mooney, the walking, talking plot device who enters a pub in Northern England, emanating a persona that may just as well be a neon sign that says “stranger danger.” He talks up a storm, does Mooney, and with every word becomes more of a sinister presence in the life of Harry Wade, one of the last hangmen in the UK, and proud of it. In the United States regional premiere of Hangmen by Kinetic Theatre, Mooney is played by the youthful Charlie Kennedy, a recent Point Park graduate. He embodies the cocky-creepy character – although Mooney notes that he prefers “menacing” to creepy.

With ‘Hangmen,’ Kinetic Theatre Brings McDonagh’s Gallows Humor to Carnegie

If there is such a thing as the “best hangman,” then it stands to reason that there is a second best. 

Martin McDonagh’s dark comedy, “Hangmen,” is based loosely on the well-chronicled life of Albert Pierrepoint, the English hangman who executed hundreds of people, including 200 wartime criminals.

Kinetic Theatre, with producing artistic director Andrew Paul at the helm, will stage the play’s Pittsburgh premiere, opening August 7, 2025, at Carnegie Stage.

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