A Behanding in Spokane: Give Christopher Walken a Hand


Photo-008 If you aren't somewhat taken aback by the work of obscenely hilarious playwright Martin McDonagh, then you either have a defunct moral compass or McDonagh has not done his job. Based on the gasps and guffaws from the audience during his latest work on Broadway, A Behanding in Spokane, he has done his fans proud. The story follows Carmichael (played with perfectly unsettling creepiness by Christopher Walken), a man on an enduring search for his left hand, which leads him into a transaction gone awry with small-time dope dealers, Marilyn and Toby (Zoe Kazan and Anthony Mackie), in a dungy hotel run by Mervyn (Sam Rockwell). The entire casting is dead-on, but if it weren't for Walken's star power, Rockwell would steal the show as the deeply affected hotel clerk.

As an aside, it's worth noting that McDonagh teamed up with blood-brother-in-comedy, director John Crowley for Behanding, his first play set stateside. But an Irish name and dark humor aren't the only things these two have in common—both chose kinsman and actor Colin Farrell to star in their respective films, Crowley's Intermission (2003), and McDonagh's In Bruges (2008). He gives such incredible performances in both that it will make you forgive him for Miami Vice.

To buy tickets, go to behandinginspokane.com or visit:

Schoenfeld Theatre
236 West 45th Street
New York, New York 10036

—Maura Lynch, Associate Beauty and Fitness Editor