The Pillowman


The Balagula Theatre Company presented The Pillowman by Martin McDonagh, which starred Ryan Case. A very dark comedy, it tells the tale of Katurian, a fiction writer living in a police state who is interrogated about the gruesome content of his short stories, and their similarities to a number of bizarre incidents occurring in his town. Directed by Natasha Williams, the Lexington production also starred Joe Gatton, David Richmond and Pete Sears. It ran from April 13 to 24, 2008.



"Thoroughly startling and genially intimidating." -The Chicago Tribune

A Tony Award-winning play, The Pillowman is a spellbinding dark comedy that has shocked and stunned audiences in hundreds of cities spanning 13 countries in just a few short years. The play has inspired several different interpretations from puppet show, to farce, to gory nightmare that only the most resilient in the audiences can stomach. The Balagula production offered yet another twist – a psychological thriller, an existential view set as a dream sequence in which the writer is facing his own internal dilemmas and conflicts embodied in other characters.



The play originally premiered in London at the Royal National Theatre and received the 2004 Olivier Award for Best New Play. It opened on Broadway oin 2005 at the Booth Theatre to rave reviews, winning the Drama Critics Circle Award for Best Play (Foreign), Tony Awards for Best Lighting of a play and Best Scenic Design of a Play. It also won two Drama desk awards: Outstanding Featured Actor, and Outstanding Sound Design.



With echoes of Stoppard, Kafka, and the Brothers Grimm, The Pillowman centers on a writer who is being interrogated about the dark and violent content of his short stories and their similarities to the string of child murders that have occurred in the town. From the very beginning, nothing in the play is what it seems: at every turn there are puzzles and deceptions, mysteries and twists, psychological traps and emotional whirlpools spiced with humor, salted with tears and peppered with sharp insights to tease the intellectual palate. The story that unfolds on stage through dynamic dialog and swift action is underlined with a series of stories told by the characters in the best tradition of storytelling. All this results in a dynamic work of theatrical thrills and an unflinching examination of the very nature of the artist and his relation to his art.




REVIEW

'The Pillowman': Riveting and unforgettably dark

By Candace Chaney
Lexington Herald-Leader
April 17, 2008

Before even entering the venue of Balagula Theatre's latest production, The Pillowman, you can tell that something is very different. For one, the usual entrance to Natasha's Bistro is locked and covered with dark curtains. Restaurant patrons and theater-goers alike (many of them being both) must enter through a smaller side door. Upon taking your seat, it's hard not to notice the twin-size bed plunked casually amid dining tables, or the restaurant's small, more traditional stage area dressed as an interrogation and torture room.

A good meal and several hours later, you'll leave the theater stunned, jarred, thoughtful, entertained and maybe even disturbed. A dark, twisted psychological thriller with occasional jags of pitch-black humor, The Pillowman is an intense experience, one that terrifies and shocks, all the while seducing with its artful, emotionally pulverizing rendering of deeply contentious concepts. Namely, what, if any, are the ethical limits of an artist? Can he or she be held accountable for gross misdeeds, even criminal acts, of others who are inspired by the artist's work? Evidently, yes.

The Pillowman opens with the harsh police interrogation of a seemingly unassuming writer, Katurian (Ryan Case), who is being questioned about a string of child murders that closely resemble those described in Katurian's dark stories. He denies any association with this and clings to artistic free will and expression. No one can be persecuted for his imagination!

But Katurian soon learns that the police also have his mentally slow brother Michael (Pete Sears) in custody. Michael is probably the only person Katurian ever really cared about. When Katurian is left alone with his brother, Michael confesses that he killed the children. He didn't mean for them to die, he just wanted to act out parts of Katurian's stories, which included chopping off a boy's toes and feeding a young girl apples with razor blades in them.

Katurian is mortified to learn that his stories had any part to play in the murders, and he feels responsible for his brother's actions.

Thus begins a downward psychological spiral for Katurian as he comes face to face with his own inner darkness and stark intimate horrors. To delve much beyond this would spoil the nail-biting suspense and the agonizingly brutal intimacy of the evening.

Billed as a dark comedy, it is as dark as it gets. Think black-hole dark, black as the bistro's signature Turkish coffee. The murder and torture of children and the question of ethics and violence in art are hardly funny, but playwright Martin McDonagh's award-winning script is laced with sulking moments of vitriolic satire. You just have to listen for it. For instance, when Katurian's fate is careening toward execution, the hard-as-nails cops quip about how they enjoy executing writers. ”It makes a statement,“ they wryly boast.

Joe Gatton and David Richmond are fiercely riveting as good cop-bad cop interrogators Ariel and Tupolski. Their blatantly unconcealed contempt for Katurian's case blurs the line between revenge and justice. And Sears' deft portrayal of Katurian's brother is one of the haunting highlights of the show. Michael doesn't understand right from wrong really. Plus, Katurian blames himself for profiting from Michael's abuse and torture as a child.

Case is entirely at home as the disturbed but genial Katurian. As each scene's repercussions grow darker and psychologically more devastating, Case appears to hit his emotional stride.

While Natasha Williams is a frequent producer at Balagula Theater, this is the first time in a while that she has lent her skills to directing. She indicated in her director's notes that her vision was that Katurian was dreaming or, rather, that each character symbolically represented a different inner conflict for Katurian.

But one needn't take an existential view to enjoy this show. The characters more than stand on their own, and the innovative use of space once again proves to be a boon rather than a hindrance for the growing troupe. The result is an evening of chilling, spellbinding proportions, one that you won't easily forget.

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