This play is an exquisite insight into raw human emotion and explores the notion that life’s true meaning can only be found in death.
In a small intimate venue, down some back stairs and along a dimly lit corridor, you will find a jail cell, in York, in 1885. In a set of an unmade bed, a stool and a makeshift window, two men condemned to die have struck up an unlikely friendship: Alistair (‘old man’), and Lewis (‘Ludley’) Thornhill. Both of their crimes are left tactically undisclosed, with Ludley’s claim that he ‘only stole a horse’ not being enough to warrant the penalty of the gallows he awaits.
Dynamics shift when the younger of the pair is offered a chance at redemption on the condition that he undertakes the role of hangman for his friend. As the play unfolds, morals become skewed between what is right and what is fair, and questions of purpose highlight the inhumanity at the heart of one life taking another. In a cruelly satirical moment, the pair discuss the most humane way for one to hang the other, with the ‘long drop’ technique being deemed the optimum scenario in a twisted evaluation of ethics.
In a particularly poignant scene, Alistair ties his own noose in an attempt to ease Ludley’s suffering at not being able to read the instructions to do it, assisting his killer in his killing with blind benevolence. In their final moments together, Ludley intimately reveals that his nickname came about as a mistaken mannerism of ‘love me’, evaluating that even when one said his name in cruelty, the true meaning behind the slander meant the façade of love could surround him.
This expertly written and directed play explores the futility of class struggle once condemned to death and the unbreakable bond of humanity in the place where it is sent to die. It strikes a particular chord in today’s climate amid the cost-of-living crisis with ‘old man’ Alistair being unable to afford coal to warm his daughter, and undertones of political struggle running throughout that culminate in a minimum wage rise for the factory workers, a success unveiled as the man who began the plight is sent to swing.
Despite being set nearly 150 years in the past, this deeply emotive play is one of the most sensitive and relevant shows to be seen, with captivating but understated performances from both actors keeping the audience utterly engaged from the first blink to the final breath. Eyes glistened as the stage – and the fictional life of Alistair – went black.
The Standard Short Long Drop is on at theSpace Triplex – Studio at 6:15 pm from August 9 till August 26 (not 13). Tickets are available here: https://tickets.edfringe.com/whats-on/standard-short-long-drop.
Image provided to The Student as press material.