'The Ferryman' at the Gielgud Theatre

Last week we went to see 'The Ferryman', Jez Butterworth's new play set in a republican house in 1981 in rural Northern Ireland.  Jez wrote the great 'Jerusalem' 8 years ago (or something like that) and this is in similar territory - small people that big things are happening to - but with a powerful political backdrop to the whole thing if you're old enough to know about it. I was sitting beside an American couple in the theatre who clearly didn't know about the 'troubles' and every now and then laughed in the 'wrong' places. I found that both annoying and distressing but never mind. That helps to give some context for the play.

Yes, we're in rural Northern Ireland - the bit that remained part of the UK rather than be part of the Republic of Ireland - at the height of the 'troubles' and the hunger strikes of Bobby Sands and others. I remember those times. After a short scene with some IRA men and a priest to ram home the timing, the play opens in a farmhouse kitchen on the morning of the annual harvest and all the menfolk will be out harvesting when their cousins arrive from Derry to help out. The family has it's harvest traditions and we watch these been followed that involve a kite and a goose. It's all normal, small things happening as we meet the extended family over three generations and an adopted English farm worker, all with memories of this special day in their rural calendar.

Then a shadow arrives in the shape of the family priest with news that Quinn's younger brother has been found dead ten years after vanishing. Quinn is head of the family and the farm is his and we realise that Caitlin isn't his wife and mother of the house but she's the wife of his younger brother who's been living with them along with her son. Quinn isn't surprised at the news - he was an IRA man in his youth and understands these things. And then the IRA men appear to ask the family to keep quiet when the news of the body is released to the press.

The darkness gets deeper when we have a scene with the lads of the family and their cousins from Derry who seem to aspire to be the next generation of IRA men. As the drink flows the friendliness of the lads turns to arguments and threats and poison is poured into the ears of Caitlin's son whose father was Quinn's younger brother who was found executed in the peat bogs the day before. The priest has betrayed Caitlin's secrets to the IRA to protect his sister but at the cost of his immortal soul for breaking the laws of the confessional. And then the tragedies strike. It's a powerful and shocking last few minutes that left me needing a deep breath.

It's a very powerful, visceral play with love and death at the centre, family bonds and friendship, of old friends lost and strangers found. It's not all dark, of course and there's some lovely lyrical passages written for some of the characters. One of my favourites was when Aunty Maggie 'came back' and started her story of visiting the fairies in the south at the peak of their war and then goes on to deliver prophecies about how many children the girls will have. She tells us how she saw the banshees years before and, on the morning of the tragedies to come she hears them again. There's still magic in the modern world after all.

The reason for the name of the play becomes clear towards the end of the play when the old uncle is talking to the priest about what might've happened to his nephew's soul in the ten years he's been dead and buried in unconsecrated ground. Then he quotes the classics as lost souls cry out to Charon to ferry them across the Styx but they're condemned to wander the world for a thousand years. It's these little insights, poetic turns and flights of fancy that add to the power of the play.

I'd highly recommend seeing this play if you possibly can. Paddy Considine was excellent as Quinn with Laura Donnelly matching him as sister-in-law Caitlin. The older members of the extended family seemed to have some of the best lines particularly Brid Brennan as Maggie, Dearbhla Molloy as bitter Aunt Pat and Des McAleer as Uncle Patrick. I also liked John Hodgkinson as the strange English farm worker who was adopted into the family years ago. And, of course, the real baby, the baby rabbit and the goose. The whole cast worked well together and gelled as a family both protecting and fighting each other the way families can do. Well done all!

'Hangmen' at Wyndham's Theatre

So, the first play of 2016 was the cheerily titled 'Hangmen' about the last hangmen in the UK in the early 1960s. What a joyful way to start the year you might think but, despite the subject matter (and content, to be honest) it was actually quite fun. It's a comedy, y'see, even though it's rather on the dark side. You won't necessarily get that from the poster of dangling feet advertising the show, but trust me, there are many laugh out loud moments and I laughed along with the sold out audience the other night.

It opens with one of the last hangings of a young man who everyone agrees is 'nice' but is to be hanged anyway. Fast forward to after the abolition of the death penalty and the hangman is now a pub landlord in Oldham (why Oldham? I've got no idea except it provides the opportunity for comedy accents). We meet the wife and daughter, the regular patrons including the local police inspector when a journalist appears to seek the hangman's views on the new law abolishing the death penalty.  What's to become of the country now that we can't legally kill people?

It's the early 60s and a trendy Londoner turns up with his southern Cockney ways and not long after the hangman's assistant appears. He'd been sacked earlier for mentioning the size of one of their clients' genitals when they were preparing him for burial - after that the word 'cock' was frequently mentioned and referred to in various ways (there's nothing like a cock joke to get the laughs). It gets darker when the hangman's teenage daughter goes missing - could the Cockney have anything to do with it? The hangman's rival for the title of 'last and greatest hangman' turns up because he's been slagged off in a newspaper article and clearly dominates the pub and stage, including getting everyone to (slowly) sniff his hair! The laughs keep coming and the Cockney is accidentally hanged (well, these things happen) and life goes on…

Despite it's rather grim subject matter it was actually great fun and characters change with the circumstances. David Morrisey was great fun as the domineering hangman brought to heel by his rival played by John Hodgkinson. I also liked Johnny Flynn as the Cockney interloper and Andy Nyman as the former assistant. I also liked the set and subtle lighting, moving from the prison cell for the first five minutes or so to the traditional old pub for the remainder of the show.