"Hang" by Debbie Tucker Green

Nottingham Lace Market Theatre.

You want to know my decision on this play? I'll tell you at the end of the review.... and no peeping, but you may guess the further you read!

The setting is a non-descript room with a table, four chairs, a stack of chairs and a plastic water dispenser butt, you know the ones that you see ina  thousand offices all over.

The play consists of three characters named One, Two and Three. 

One and Two are the care workers, appointed to advise Three of her options.

Three is a woman is the victim of a devastating crime. It's not made clear what this crime is, and if it's against herself or her family, but whatever the crime was, it has had had long-lasting effects on them. This affectation is shown clearly in Three's physicality. Her life has never recovered from the crime, she is no longer intimate with her husband, her kids are on medication and her life has fallen apart.

In the aftermath, given the power to decide the fate of her perpetrator, she now holds his life in her hands. I don't think it's giving anything away by referring back to the title as to their fate! This is decided by Three, although she had come into the meeting with the same decision as she left the meeting,  after asking how long each option took.

One and Two are very clinical in their outlook and dealing of the case, almost as if they are working from a script; a script that neither were in tune with due to the repetition of the boxes they both needed to tick. They try but all of their "can we get you anything"s seem like a formality to make Three as "comfortable" as possible, and part of their job description per case. It even takes a while before they enquire as to how she was!

One and Two succeed in winding Three up, unintentionally, and there was that embarrassing element of comedy between the case workers as they soon realised that, with Three, they were slowly digging themselves a hole that they were unable to climb out of, especially when Three turned the tables on One. I mention the comic possibility, and there were several who did laugh at the case worker's bumbling efforts to try and make things easier, if that is the right word. I didn't laugh because just looking at Three's face and physical position, you just knew she was about to explode, which she did.

Putting yourself in One and Two's position though, you just realised that they had not dealt with this level of devastation, and you could see the attempts to make sure that all the correct boxes were ticked, but without having the compassion and empathy required. As Three stated several times, they could not imagine what she had been through, or understand her situation. they were swimming against a tide of emotion and anger.

In today's designer lives, where you can compile playlists, menus, TV option choices, here is a possible glimpse of the future where you can choose the way that anyone has wronged you can meet their maker. Three is offered options like lethal injection, gas, firing squad, beheading, electric chair, hanging; it's capital punishment as a consumer choice!

The whole option of choosing someone else's demise is bordering on inhuman, this is vindicated when Three actually expresses a wish that it goes wrong for the person set to receive their fate at the hangman's hands. She knows of the possibility that the noose may be too long or short, both of which can cause harm to the person and delay the final breath, and the embarrassment of emptying of the bowels before death takes over, and with this in mind, she signs the papers to confirm her option. 

You do see that it is with a shaky hand that she does this and realises that his death will be with her, and on her conscience, forever.

At several stages of the play, the lights are dropped and a video of an eye is projected onto Three, symbolising that, whoever has committed this crime against her and her family, she still feels has control over her. This is also highlighted by a letter that the imprisoned person had written to her was introduced as a "development", which we see her reading as the play closes.

Ladene Hall (One), won me over straight away as she has the looks of the gorgeous - in my opinion - Dawn French. Okay, that out of the way, you could really see the uncomfortableness creep in as she revealed that since the last meeting, she and her husband - that is One's husband - had split. This gave Three leverage to turn the tables, well at least topple the table, on her. Ladene really showed the frustration in One's character when she was not getting the answers that she had been programmed to request through all of the training that she had been given. This role could not have been the easiest, but is probably a very satisfying role to play. With the subject matter, none of the roles would have been easy.

Ben Dixon (Two), as with Ladene really encased himself in the character, who kept slipping up on protocol, which also created an embarrassing set of situations, not only with One, but gave Three even more bullets to fire at One and Two. You could see the character slowly grow more uncomfortable as he tried to get to the next box to tick. Ben was a former member of the Lace Market Theatre Youth Group before continuing his training at Royal Birmingham Conservatoire. 

Keyah Beckford (Three). As soon as Keyah emerged you could see that three was in no mood to be talked down to and patronised, and she took none of it from either One or Two. This must have been an exhausting, but so rewarding role for Keyah. She really made you feel for her, even without revealing what actually happened years ago that brought her to this meeting and decision that she had to come to. She looked completely drained when she first appeared but with all the anger she held, and then relinquished, the fire in her eyes was enough to scorch the paint from the Lace Market Studio Theatre walls. I was thinking that you would not want to mess with Keyah if you got into an argument with her if this is what the power of her acting is like.

All three showed what incredible acting is like. All three had so much script to recall; this is a very wordy and angry play, and all three, I know, were very nervous about tonight. All three delivered a production, and performances, that I personally will not forget in a very long time. I'd even go as far as to say, it's one of the best plays I've seen at the Lace Market Theatre.

Directed by Ian Smith, who I also know was really nervous beforehand when I spoke to him before the play started. This production is a massive success for everyone involved and I secretly think that they all knew that this was going to be one of those shows that everyone would be talking about afterwards, and maybe that was part of the nervousness. Set in real time, and the papers were even signed the 28^th of the month, Ian made sure that the pace was perfect and that the passion in this play was on a slow burn, right up to the end.

The lighting and projection is important here, and the combined talents of David Billen, Simon carter, Allen Green and Matt Allcock create a tense atmosphere.

Performed in the Studio upstairs at the Lace Market Theatre, this makes this dark play even more uncomfortable to watch due to it's intimacy, but would not be as effective or emotive if it had been performed on the bigger stage downstairs. You may even find yourself, like myself, flip-flopping your sympathy between the two parties. Either way, this will give you something to discuss, which is what a good play should aim to do for their audiences.

Anyway, to answer the question at the start of this review, enjoy is maybe the wrong adjective to describe it due to the content, but I am so pleased, and lucky to have experienced this amazing piece of writing, and the incredible performances by Ladene, Ben and Keyah.

This week, Monday to Saturday, is a complete sell out, every night, including the Saturday matinee, but there is a possibility of seeing "Hang" at Queen's Walk Community Centre in The Meadows on July 8^th as a one-off performance. Please contact the Community Centre for availability.

The production is dedicated to the memory of Sophia Ramcharan and Karl White.