Edward Braff wants to kill himself. He figures his life
can’t get any worse, so he rigs up a noose, sticks his neck
in it and hangs. Contrary to the laws of nature, he does not die,
and his life gets worse.
“The Hanging Man,” an original work by
Britain’s Improbable Theater Company, is about an architect
who is so burdened by his success that he attempts suicide in his
half-constructed building. However, he is left suspended in a
surreal realm between life and death.
Directed, scripted and designed by its founding members Phelim
McDermott, Lee Simpson and Julian Crouch, the Improbable Theater
Company has made a name for itself internationally by provoking the
imagination through its work. “The Hanging Man” is
currently playing at Freud Playhouse until Oct. 18.
“We’re aware that it’s very easy to stop
taking risks,” Simpson said. “We kind of try and stay
in trouble, and in a place where we don’t really know very
much. That seems like the best place to make theater. When you
start out, you don’t know anything, you just do stuff based
on your gut instincts. It can become quite difficult to follow
those after a time when you get to know some more. Knowledge can be
a dangerous thing.”
It is clear through the play’s plot and visually rich
landscape of trap doors, picture frames and masked figures in tall
hats that the Improbable Theater Company hasn’t run out of
steam yet.
“We always try to make the set like an adventure
playground. It’s important that there’s an element of
spectacle or beauty to what you see as well as what you
hear,” Simpson said. “A lot of the symbolism and
emotion of the show is not necessarily conveyed in the lines that
the actors speak. The same way that a painting in a gallery can
provoke thought, I think a stage picture can be as
effective.”
Some of the “stage pictures” exhibited throughout
this alternate realm are Braff’s encounters with the public.
Among those who poke and examine the marvel of a man hanging but
not dead is a priest whose trousers fall down, nuns who engage in a
fistfight, a general of the army, and a powerful businessman.
However, none of these encounters can compete with Death
herself. The character of Death in “The Hanging Man” is
the polar opposite of the black-hooded skeleton wielding a scythe.
Instead, Death is played by a woman in a sharp, cream-colored suit
whose desires are very human.
“Essentially we’re interested in using Death as an
adviser” Simpson said. “What ticks her off about the
central character is that he has no contact with her until the
moment when he wants to leave his life. She kind of goes,
“˜I’m not having that. I feel used, I feel like
you’re taking advantage of me.’ Her plea is to have a
relationship and be noticed.”
Simpson asserts that the echoing of religious associations is
not deliberate, despite what previous audiences have read into the
play.
However, the company welcomes the audience to exercise its
creative intelligence.
“The blankness of the costumes was because we wanted to
keep them quite simple. For us, it’s important to leave a
space for the audience’s imaginings in what is perceived on
stage.”
While the set design and costumes are static, the company
strives to keep the play dynamic with an element of
unpredictability by providing the actors with space to
improvise.
“What’s important to us is a kind of honesty. The
actors have some freedom to feel their connection with the
audience, and respond to that connection. We’re interested in
what’s happening in the room, not what’s supposed to be
happening in the room,” Simpson said.