The Pillowman – by Martin McDonagh
Gaiety Theatre – 2 March 2015 – 14 March 2015

The play opens with a writer, Katurian, waiting to be interrogated in a room. He is joined by two policemen who start to question him for an unspecified crime. Their queries seem banal and there is no clear line of inquiry to what he is being asked. We are told that the characters live in a totalitarian dictatorship, a dangerous place for a writer at the best of time. The police query elements of his writing, some published and some they have confiscated from his home. We slowly start to learn that a number of incidents from his stories have been used in a series of elaborate murders, of which he claims no knowledge.

This is a new production of the 2003 play by Martin McDonagh. It is quite an unusual piece by McDonagh, in that it is almost completely based on a series of twisted fairy tales, which are woven through the play. Some are merely mentioned in passing, some narrated and some acted out. The set appears to be quite simple with a single curved cell in which the prisoner is interrogated, but on some of the flights of fancy, the cell opens out to create a space to show elements of the stories being told.

The production is being sold on the inclusion of David McSavage and Gary Lydon, and while the both have fairly major parts, it is the two young brothers that dominate the play and the scenes with the two of them are where it really comes alive. McSavage does well in his alteration to the role of stage actor, but the part is surprisingly straight laced and only intermittently allows him to use his comedic talents. As with any play based on a number of short stories, it has some moments that will resonate and others that fall slightly flat. McDonagh is a writer with a spark for the bizarre, and this structure allows him to push it past the boundaries of good taste. He delights in these freakish and grotesque tales of child murder and cruelty. With the success of In Bruges, there has been a new appraisal of his earlier work and this is an impressive production of a play rarely seen on these shores.

The Pillowman – by Martin McDonagh
Gaiety Theatre – 2 March 2015 – 14 March 2015

Cast –  David McSavage , Gary Lydon, Peter Campion, Michael Ford-FitzGerald, Peter Shine, Jarlath Tivnan, Kate Murray, Tara Finn and Rosa Mikela.

Directed by Andrew Flynn
Set Design Owen MacCarthaigh
Lighting Design Ciaran Bagnel
Costume Design Petra Breathnach
Sound Design by Carl Kennedy

Evening show: 7:30pm
Saturday Matinee: 3pm

Find out more about Decadent Theatre Company here.