The Cast Photo by Claudia Herschner

Co-directors Ted Weil and Samantha Joy Weil have assembled a cast of ten able performers, and dialect coach Kate Glasheen has them all speaking with the accents of hardcore British northerners, plus one annoying fellow from London. Worley Stidham plays Harry Wade, an executioner who's about to be out of a job in 1965 when the United Kingdom abolishes hanging. The show opens with him carrying out a cold-hearted 1963 execution of a man named Hennessy (Mike Spitz), who's possibly innocent and who pronounces a curse on Harry.

The balance of the action takes place two years later in the pub Harry operates on the first floor of his home with his wife Alice (Linda Callahan) as the bartender. It's populated by colorful, dissolute "cronies and sycophants," played by Matt Flannery, Darren Lee, Ryan Bowron, Gabe Schenker and Mark Bowen. In their midst is Clegg (Dylan McKenna), a local journalist intent on interviewing Harry about the end of capital punishment. Harry chafes at being compared to another British hangman named Pierrepont, reputed to be the best of his profession in Britain, and makes a series of disrespectful remarks about him to Clegg.

A brash young stranger from London, Mooney (Matt Flannery), enters the pub and becomes the focus of conversation, although he initially has little to say. He's seeking a room to rent and asks the Wades if they might have one available. He strikes up a flirty conversation with Shirley (Em Ivanov), the Wades' 15-year-old daughter. The Wades reject his references and he reacts rudely and departs, but when Shirley goes missing, everyone is suspicious that somehow Mooney–termed as "menacing" by Clegg–is involved.

Hennessy's curse on Harry seems to descend once the newspaper interview by Clegg gets published, and more is revealed about some questionable actions. Mooney comes back to the pub, and things spiral downward rapidly. Pierrepoint (Mike Spitz returns in this role) appears to put outspoken Harry in his place. Harry's rash actions take a final, fatal turn.

Like most of McDonagh's scripts and screenplays, this is not a tale for the fainthearted, featuring a lot of verbal abuse in addition to physical violence. But for those who warm to wicked banter and joshing conflict, Hangmen is a feast. Mark Bowen's hard of hearing Arthur is always several beats behind the dialogue, and Dylan McKenna's nervous writer Clegg is often buffaloed by threats that come his way. As Harry, the puffed-up, self-important central character, Stidham makes him thoroughly obnoxious, and Matt Flannery's performance as the fast-talking Mooney effectively conveys his dangerous presence.

The Wades' seedy, shopworn pub is convincingly recreated on the Falcon's small stage–mismatched tables and chairs, coat hooks, and even a small statue of an English bulldog at the base of a hall tree. This production answered some tech challenges on the single-level stage to portray hangings; the Weils found clever ways to stage them realistically.

Falcon Theatre stakes its reputation on bringing imaginative, off-the-radar plays to local audiences, and theatregoers are responding–the company's storefront Newport space with 50 or so seats was filled to capacity for the show's opening weekend.

Hangmen runs through February 8, 2025, at Falcon Theatre, 636 Monmouth Street, Newport KY. For tickets and information, please visit www.falcontheater.net or call 513-479-6783.