The Hanged Man’s Bride, Birmingham Festival Review

Written by Charis for Theatre and Tonic.

Disclaimer: Gifted tickets in return for an honest review. All opinions are our own.

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Charles Dickens’ short story The Hanged Man’s Bride was both created by and performed as a one man play by James Nicholas as part of the Birmingham Festival.  The adaptation remains true to Charles Dickens dark, psychological-horror nature. Despite having never read the original source material I was able to follow the story along well. 

The piece centres around Goodchild, a 45-year-old man who is a black-mirror of Dickens himself; married but desperate to be with his mistress instead.

In this adaptation, Goodman travels alone to Lancaster to overcome writer’s block and stays at an inn. Across from the inn, where hangings once occurred, a mysterious stranger tells him an eerie tale. A sinister man, thwarted in his plan to marry a wealthy widow by her untimely death, manipulates and marries her daughter Ada through coercion and fear. After their marriage, he imprisons and neglects her in their bridal suite, repeatedly whispering "die" as she begs for help, careful not to harm her directly.

His scheme unravels when he kills a witness and is eventually hanged for his crimes. The storyteller reveals himself to be the hanged man, doomed to relive Ada's death. Ada's ghost, in an ironic twist, haunts him with the word "live." Goodman realizes his inn room is the same bridal suite where Ada died. The proprietor denies seeing the mysterious stranger, leaving Goodman horrified at the possibility of a true haunting.

Nicholas’ solo performance, showcases such a full range of emotion, and changing back and forth between the characters in the scenes so rapidly that it catches the attention of the audience and is a real testament to his abilities as an actor. The production of the piece in minimalistic, making occasional use of sound effects, and lighting effects, and yet the scene is masterfully painted, and the theatrical illusion maintained.

Nicholas’ acting perfectly captures the Dickensian method of horror, that the supernatural could be the cause, but that usually it is ourselves, and our duality that introduces terror to the world, and the talent to adapt this piece to just a 50 minute performance, without having to lose any essential elements of the story is incredible.

His performance is spectacular as it utilises virtually no set, dressing or props. Nicholas is truly alone on the stage with only three chairs and a suitcase. Most of the piece takes place using two of the three chairs, which he does change the angle and placing of slightly to show a difference. There is also minimal costume, with Nicholas only having one, a traditional dress of a man of his social standing in the Victorian era. Lastly there is minimal lighting and audial effects within the piece instead choosing to utilise them at pinnacle moments within the performance to add to the psychological nature of the piece. 

As you watch Nicholas perform each character changing mannerisms and accents to embody distinct characters in such a short time span you can truly feel what the characters do. When he crawls across the floor as the bride the audience can feel her deep pain and you can experience her husband’s selfishness and lack of human nature. 

Nicholas has also done a superb job in capturing Charles Dickens when adapting the short story, the hanged man’s bride for theatre. There is absolutely no doubting that the piece is Dickensian in nature. It is a testament to his writing abilities to have stayed close to the source material while making a few changes to create the one-man theatre piece. 

The Hanged Man’s Bridge can be viewed at the Blue Orange Theatre as part of the Birmingham Festival until 14th July. Tickets can be purchased online or at the door.

★ ★ ★ ★