Double-Bill part two: #7. hang

hang by debbie tucker green

Premiere: Royal Court Jerwood Theatre Downstairs (11 June 2015)

Published by NHB Modern Plays

Part two in the Royal Court double-bill is debbie tucker green's latest, hang. dtg has explored the victim-aggressor dynamic before, but here flips it on its head with the victim put in the position of power.

The play exists in an imagined near future under a system where victims get a say in the corporal punishment of the perpetrators of crime. dtg's characteristically succinct, taut play focussed on the meeting where Three, the unnamed victim of an unspoken crime, has come to formalise her decision determining how the convict will be executed. The script revels in the 'newspeak', hollow, jargon-laden conversations of inadequate pencil-pushing bureaucrats - who clumisily admit to indulging in roleplay to prepare themselves for these meetings. This meeting with the combative, impassioned Three, however, is nothing they were prepared for. 

From the very beginning of the piece, Three claims to have her mind made up, but it takes until the very end of the piece for her to finally follow through. Only after she has forced one of the two officials to go through the very fine points of each form of execution will she at last give up her choice. As such, it seems as though in fact she hasn't made her decision, but is too headstrong - accurately observed as an effect of the trauma inflicted on herself and her family - to allow herself to be influenced. The two officials simply want an answer and an easy life, while for Three it is a much bigger issue at hand and I would say there is a great deal of doubt surrounding her choice. This disconnect is wonderfully communicated, and keeping so much unknown does effectively create a certain tension.

debbie tucker green's play is precisely and meticulously structured, confidently articulating the complicated and emotional argument around corporal punishment and revenge.

The dialogue in dtg's script is incredibly rhythmic, almost like the rhythms of rap or sustained spoken word poetry. This is particularly evident in Three's longer, passionate speeches, which are remarkably moving. There is an impressive clarity in this play which holds its cards very close to its chest, only gradually revealing the whys and wherefores of the situation. 

Marianne Jean-Baptiste (Three) with Claire
Rushbrook (One) and Shane Zaza (Two)

There are some interesting differences between the published script and the performed production, most notably the very end of the play. Throughout, reference is made to the 'Chekhov's gun' style letter that has been written by Three's persecutor. Three won't read it until she's signed away her decision. In the script, she opens it in front of the two officials and tells us: "He's...sorry." Whereas in performance, she was left alone to read the letter and we never find out what is in it, simply seeing her hands shake and her eyes widen as she takes in what he has to say. The choice made for the performance seems more in line with dtg's stylistic decision to remain oblique, heightening the ambiguity about what exactly he's done to inspire such strong feelings from Three. The script, though, does give more of a sense of Three's own doubt and conscience - she will have to live with the decision she has just made about his death for the rest of her life. Both choices are effective, though the production perhaps more subtly so, in questioning the validity of notions of revenge in corporal punishment. It offers an exciting choice to directors in future productions, too!

debbie tucker green's play is precisely and meticulously structured, confidently articulating a very complicated and emotional argument about crime and corporal punishment. She has also written a tremendous female heroine, which there is a great dearth of in contemporary theatre - expertly performed by Marianne Jean-Baptiste in a tour de force turn at the Royal Court earlier this year directed by dtg herself. I really enjoy the sense of ambiguity in the piece, though it may suffer in political volume as its lack of cultural grounding doesn't directly place it within or in connection to any system we currently have. As a play about revenge, though, which has a much wider resonance, it is haunting.

Buy on Amazon here.

This double-bill of Royal Court plays was not a deliberate choice, but you will notice that many of the plays I will cover have premiered at the Royal Court at some time over the past few years. Both hang and Constellations are tremendous plays, offering fresh perspectives and new voices, and are testimony to the incredible work of the Court. Constellations has had a healthy commercial life in large-capacity houses across the globe since its premiere in the tiny Jerwood Theatre Upstairs. It is thanks to the Royal Court's ability to take risks, enabled by the subsidy they receive (comparatively small next to the behemoths of the National or the RSC), that our theatre culture remains so vibrant and that new playwrights have a platform to develop and stage their work. If ever there was a reason to fight the case of arts subsidy, the Royal Court is it. 

Visit the Royal Court website to find out more.