The Pillowman, by Martin McDonagh at Berkeley Rep
The Pillowman, by Martin McDonagh at Berkeley Rep
This was both one of the best plays and one of the best productions I’ve seen in a long time. The play itself is brilliant and the acting, blocking, setting and effects of this production showcase it to great advantage.
The Pillowman begins with Katurian, a young writer, arrested by police in an unnamed totalitarian dictatorship. They question him about his portfolio of gruesome short stories, most of which involve children meeting horrible and graphic deaths after leading horrible and graphic lives. After a certain amount of absurdist banter and introducing themselves as “bad cop” and “good cop,” the police inform Katurian that the children reported missing in the papers have in fact been murdered in the style of his stories . . . To say anything more about the plot would be spoilers.
What makes this play so memorable to me is its powerful mix of horror and humor, which had me shivering and laughing, sometimes at the same time. Watching “The Pillowman” reminded me of my experiences reading the Marquis de Sade: laughing out loud, then feeling guilty for finding anything funny in tales of incest, child-rape, murder and mutilation. The content of Pillowman is less explicit, but unusually disturbing for the stage (or at least my experience of the stage). Yet, for all that, I haven’t laughed so hard in ages. Watching the diverse audience reactions was almost worth the price of admission in itself.
And, of course, this play ties into some of my great obsessions: reality, representation, censorship and freedom of speech. I empathized painfully with Katurian, since I too am a reader & writer of material I would NEVER want reenacted on an (unwilling) subject.
If you live in the bay area, you must see this production. It runs until March 11th and I plan to go again with a group. If you’d like in on the fun, drop me a line or leave me a comment. For anyone under 30, tickets are only 22.50$ and worth every cent. If you (sadly) don’t live nearby, get a copy and read it. You won’t be sorry.
P.S. I just read that Martin McDonagh had never been to the theater, never went to college and wrote this play when he was my age. Argh. I hate my life…
This was both one of the best plays and one of the best productions I’ve seen in a long time. The play itself is brilliant and the acting, blocking, setting and effects of this production showcase it to great advantage.
The Pillowman begins with Katurian, a young writer, arrested by police in an unnamed totalitarian dictatorship. They question him about his portfolio of gruesome short stories, most of which involve children meeting horrible and graphic deaths after leading horrible and graphic lives. After a certain amount of absurdist banter and introducing themselves as “bad cop” and “good cop,” the police inform Katurian that the children reported missing in the papers have in fact been murdered in the style of his stories . . . To say anything more about the plot would be spoilers.
What makes this play so memorable to me is its powerful mix of horror and humor, which had me shivering and laughing, sometimes at the same time. Watching “The Pillowman” reminded me of my experiences reading the Marquis de Sade: laughing out loud, then feeling guilty for finding anything funny in tales of incest, child-rape, murder and mutilation. The content of Pillowman is less explicit, but unusually disturbing for the stage (or at least my experience of the stage). Yet, for all that, I haven’t laughed so hard in ages. Watching the diverse audience reactions was almost worth the price of admission in itself.
And, of course, this play ties into some of my great obsessions: reality, representation, censorship and freedom of speech. I empathized painfully with Katurian, since I too am a reader & writer of material I would NEVER want reenacted on an (unwilling) subject.
If you live in the bay area, you must see this production. It runs until March 11th and I plan to go again with a group. If you’d like in on the fun, drop me a line or leave me a comment. For anyone under 30, tickets are only 22.50$ and worth every cent. If you (sadly) don’t live nearby, get a copy and read it. You won’t be sorry.
P.S. I just read that Martin McDonagh had never been to the theater, never went to college and wrote this play when he was my age. Argh. I hate my life…