Executioner Number One
Soho Theatre
Four stars
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Best known for the darkly comic TV series Being Human, writer Toby Whithouse has gone back to his acting roots to explore the world of the hangman. In his one-man play Executioner Number One, he has created and performs the character of Ian who secretly dreams of promotion to the top job after years as number-two executioner. With a well-sustained note of black comedy, Whithouse presents a man who appears to see hanging criminals as little different from any other job, where the biggest challenge is the admin. When it looks like an outsider is likely to be appointed to the role he covets, we start to see another side to Ian that is both moving and chilling.
The story is set against an alternate reality where hanging was re-introduced 40 years ago after – of course – a referendum supporting the death penalty by 75%. As the story unfolds, we realise that hanging is not just for murderers but part of a society where torture and informing are commonplace in a battle to overcome threats to the state that quite possibly don’t really exist – not that much of a leap from the current climate in Britain. This menacing world outside contrasts with Ian’s little life which is more concerned with office politics and whose turn it is to make a round of teas.
As both writer and performer, Whithouse has flawlessly created a richly imagined character whose passion for his gruesome job gives rise to plenty of macabre humour. Against a finely detailed set designed by Andrew Purcell, director Jonathan Lloyd has helped Whithouse to make this a show that is not just funny but a riveting, well-paced story with flashes of darkness. It touches on the brutality of the death penalty at a time when the number of executions is on the rise around the world but it is ultimately a sharply written tale of what motivates an ordinary man who kills for a living.
Running to April 15, 2017
Photos: Manuel Harlan
