| Big and blustery, HANGMEN nods to Joe Orton's outrageous and macabre farces. It's not as funny as Orton, or as funny as McDonagh has himself been previously, but it's engaging and very well acted. The play is packed with plot elements--not all of them entirely clear--and with sumptuous characterizations which prove more satisfying than the somewhat labyrinthine story itself. McDonagh's voice is instantly recognizable, in particular his comic exhortation--and exaltation--of cruelty. If HANGMEN isn't as crisp a comedy of humiliation as, say, THE CRIPPLE OF INISHMAN, it's still a great pleasure to hear McDonagh's particular brand of baroque, idiosyncratic speech. |
