Martin McDonagh's HANGMEN Comes to Santa Paula Theater Center

Santa Paula Theater Center has announced the second Main Stage show of Season 2024, Martin McDonagh’s HANGMEN, from April 12th - May 12th, 2024 with performances on Friday and Saturday Evenings at 8:00 PM and Sunday matinees at 2:30 PM at the Santa Paula Theater Center, 125 S. Seventh Street, Santa Paula, CA 93060. More information can be found at www.santapaulatheatercenter.org.

It’s 1965, and execution by hanging has just been abolished in the United Kingdom. Naturally all of Oldham, Northern England, wants to know what Harry, the second-best hangman in the country, has to say about it.

HANGMEN won the 2016 Laurence Olivier Award for Best New Play and the 2015 Critics Circle Theatre Award for Best New Play. It was nominated for the 2022 Tony Award for Best Play, Best Performance by a Leading Actor in a Play, and Best Performance by a Featured Actor in a Play.

For much of the past decade, McDonagh, after earlier successes like The Cripple of Inishmaan and The Lieutenant of Inishmore, has put his mind to film, making In Bruges, Seven Psychopaths and the multi award winning Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri and The Banshees of Inshimore.  But now he is back on the boards, with what might be his most brutal and hilarious masterpiece yet. It has been said that while McDonagh may not have invented dark comedy, he has damn near perfected it.

For all its talk of hanging and abolition, this black comedy isn’t a political play. It’s more about the past catching up with the present, and about power and pride among men. A hangman might wield power over his victim – but there’s always someone round the corner with a bigger, longer rope if he’s not careful. Which is worse, the play wonders, the killer who frightens us or the killer who believes he makes us safe?  It’s a vicious, hilarious play, stained with nicotine and nihilism.

Critics have raved about this award winning play! The Sunday Times (UK) acclaims “Gripping, funny and dramatically tense, HANGMEN is a thoroughly great play… riveting from start to finish. Almost every line is laugh-out-loud funny, every moment filled with dramatic tension.”Independent (UK) touts “HANGMEN adds up to a stinging indictment of capital punishment but never can the case against it have been mounted with such blissfully disreputable humor in a work that refuses, to put it mildly, to wear its heart on its sleeve. …The immaculate ingenuity and off-beam symmetry of the plotting is a thing of wonder. …A flawless treat.” Observer (UK) heralds “McDonagh’s first play for more than 10 years is tremendous: a departure, and a deepening of his talents.” Telegraph (UK) states “…pitch-perfect… re-establishes McDonagh as the one to beat… this look back in sharp-eyed wonder at the grimmer side of the swinging Sixties doesn’t loosen its grip from start to finish. It’s perhaps the most line-by-line funny play London has seen in years. …McDonagh takes you brilliantly, without any crude coercion, to the heart of serious questions about justice and punishment—and the fallibility of the way we reach verdicts.” The New York Times acclaims “…ruthlessly funny… locates belly laughs amid an unfolding atmosphere of menace… Mr. McDonagh suggests that humankind’s capacity for violence exists well beyond the state sanction (or not) of capital punishment.” The Hollywood Reporter touts “Delectably dark! The dialogue crackles, the running jokes are devilishly good and the characters are incisively drawn, providing choice fodder for an electric ensemble.”

From painting workshops to concerts to magic shows to great plays – there always something happening at the Santa Paula Theater Center! For more information about Santa Paula Theater Center, visit our website at www.santapaulatheatercenter.org. Season tickets also available to purchase! For more information about Santa Paula Theater Center, visit our website at www.santapaulatheatercenter.org. Season tickets also available to purchase! Coming up next we have WOMEN IN JEOPARDY by Wendy McLeod June 21 - July 21, CHAPTER TWO by Neil Simon Aug 30 - Sept 29, and BASKERVILEE: A SHERLOCK HOLMES MYSTERY by Ken Ludwig Nov 8 - December 15. The wearing of masks while inside the Santa Paula Theater Center is optional, though highly encourage for the safety of our patrons, actors, and staff.

Test and expand your Broadway knowledge with our new game - The Broadway Match-Up! How well do you know your Broadway casting trivia?	Play the Daily Game, explore current shows, and delve into past decades like the 2000s, 80s, and the Golden Age. Challenge your friends and see where you rank!
How well do you know your Tony Awards history? Take our never-ending quiz of nominations and winner history and challenge your friends.	Can you beat your friends? Play today’s daily Broadway word game, featuring a new theatrically inspired word or phrase every day!