'Hangmen' won't return to Broadway after COVID-19 crisis ends

March 21 (UPI) -- Playwright Martin McDonagh's new stage comedy Hangmen will not resume performances when Broadway reopens next month, producers announced.

New York's theaters, along with other cultural institutions and schools across the United States, closed earlier this month in an attempt to keep large crowds from gathering and hence stem the spread of coronavirus.

Broadway is expected to reopen April 13.

Starring Mark Addy, Tracie Bennett, Ewen Bremner, Owen Campbell, Jeremy Crutchley, Gaby French, Josh Goulding, John Hodgkinson, Richard Hollis, John Horton, Ryan Pope and Dan Stevens, Hangmen started performances Feb. 28 and played 13 previews before it was shut down March 12.

It was scheduled to officially open Thursday.

"Because of the current health crisis which has created circumstances beyond our control, it is with deep regret that we are not able to resume performances of Hangmen," producers Robert Fox, Jean Doumanian, Elizabeth I. McCann and Craig Balsam said in a statement Friday.

"With no definite end in sight of the government's closure and Broadway's suspension, we have no alternative but to release the actors from their contracts and close the production. Given our show's budget and capitalization, we do not have the economic resources to be able to continue to pay the theater owners, cast and crew through this still undefined closure period. Therefore, in the interests of all involved, we regretfully have no choice but to close the show. We are all extremely disappointed that we cannot give Martin McDonagh and our fabulous director, cast and team the celebrated opening they all deserve."

Hangmen had a sold-out, world-premiere run at London's Royal Court Theatre in September 2015 before transferring to the West End's Wyndham's Theatre in 2016.

It won the 2016 Olivier Award for Best Play.

McDonagh's plays include A Behanding in Spokane, The Beauty Queen of Leenane, The Cripple of Inishmaan, The Lieutenant of Inishmore and The Pillowman.

In Bruges was McDonagh's film directorial debut in 2008. His other movies include 2012's Seven Psychopaths and 2017's Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri.

Before COVID-19 was declared a pandemic and halted film and TV productions all over the world, McDonagh was slated to reunite with his In Bruges stars Colin Farrell and Brendan Gleeson in Ireland this summer to make the new movie The Banshees of Inisheer.

The fate of that project is currently unclear.