The English Guide to...

I don't think I was the only one in the auditorium not expecting a play about the last man to be hanged - (or is that hung?) in England to be as funny as this. Perhaps, you say, I should have looked it up beforehand- but who wants to risk accidentally reading something that skews their perspective or forces them to notice a tiny hole in the plot? In this case my strategy paid off - who wants to struggle through a couple of hours of a playwright's quiet contemplation on  a rainy Monday night ? We are introduced to Harry Wade (David Morrissey), England's second-best hangman and now pub landlord. He gives an interview to a London journalist visiting Oldham for the day (queue plenty of North/South jokes), adding to his local celebrity status and boasting in his talents as an executioner. When Harry's daughter goes missing he quickly suspects Peter Mooney ( Johnny Flynn),  a loud, charming yet rather creepy southerner who has recently turned up out of the blue.  Se...