The Hangman
Hangman, The (Bödeln) Author: Pär Lagerkvist
First Performance: 1934, Bergen and Stockholm
Published: 1946
First English Translation: 1966
Genre: Drama in 1 act; Swedish prose
Setting: Medieval tavern and 20th c. nightclub
Cast: 12m, 4f, extras
In a medieval tavern, where the guests drink raucously and the tales they tell are often acted out, the gigantic Hangman sits silently and alone, wearing a blood-red robe. A carpenter tells how the Hangman saved a doomed boy, and all agree that the Hangman is ‘good sometimes, too’: he always asks the victim's pardon before executing them. The story is also told of the Hangman's marriage to a girl he could not bear to hang. However, his bride strangled their child, and he had to hang her after all. Suddenly the tavern is transformed into a...
[The entire page is 340 words long]
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