SLCene Suggests: A Behanding in Spokane at The Sugar Space

A BEHANDING IN SPOKANE, THE SUGAR SPACE, Friday, May 3-Saturday, May 4 & Friday, May 10-Saturday, May 11, 8 p.m., $12

On a solo trip to New York City a few years ago, a friend tipped me off to the cheap tix to Broadway plays available at matinees, as well as the production of playwright Will McDonagh’s A Behanding in Spokane that was going on at the time, starring Christopher Walken and Sam Rockwell. I loved the dark comedy about a haunted criminal desperately trying to find his hand that had been brutally removed by thug years earlier when he was a teenager, and his interactions with a young couple who claim to have his prized paw. Only later did I find out that McDonagh is the writer behind a series of brilliant plays, as well as films like In Bruges and Seven Psychopaths. Now, Salt Lake City’s Hive Theatre Company is presenting the Utah premiere of A Behanding in Spokane with four performances at The Sugar Space over the next two weekends. You can count on the plot and dialogue being worthwhile, and it should be exciting to see the Hive group tackle McDonagh’s work.