The Pillowman
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The Pillowman is a play by Martin McDonagh. A drama, 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.
The play had its world premiere on November 13, 2003 at the Royal National Theatre, starring David Tennant as Katurian, the play's primary focus, Jim Broadbent as Tupolski his lead interrogator, Nigel Lindsay as Ariel, and Adam Godley as Michal. It received the 2004 Olivier Award and an Evening Standard Award nomination for Best New Play. It was directed by John Crowley.
Katurian is being interviewed; Some of the short stories he wrote are similar to some bizarre child murders that are happening in the town. Katurian of course denies these allegations, stating that although his stories are gruesome it is the job of a storyteller to tell a story. After being tortured Katurian is thrown into a room with his mentally handicapped brother Michal. Michal says that he was the one who killed the children, and was only doing what was in the stories because “that is what his brother wanted him to do”. Katurian doesn’t want his brother to be executed for something that he wasn’t fully cognizant about so Katurian smothers his brother with a pillow. Katurian then later confesses to the murders of the three children, making a deal with Tupolski and Ariel that if he did they would not destroy his stories. When the police find the crime scenes they find that his description of them do not match the crime scenes at all. They know that Katurian wasn’t the murderer, but he is executed anyway for the murder of his parents and Michal.
The Pillowman opened on Broadway on April 10, 2005 at the Booth Theatre to rave reviews. Starring Jeff Goldblum as Tupolski, Billy Crudup as Katurian, with Željko Ivanek as Ariel, and Michael Stuhlbarg as Michal, the production won the Drama Critics Circle Award for Best Play (Foreign), Tony Awards for Best Lighting of a play, (Brian MacDevitt), and Best Scenic Design of a Play, Scott Pask, and 2 Drama desk awards: Outstanding Featured Actor, (Michael Stuhlbarg), and Outstanding Sound Design, (Paul Arditti). Jeff Goldblum also received the Outer Critics Circle Award for Outstanding Featured Actor in a Play. The play concluded its Broadway run on September 18, 2005.
[edit] Director/Actor counterparts
| City | Director | Katurian | Tupolski | Ariel | Michal |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Denver | Anthony Powell | Scott Ferrara | Larry Hecht | Douglas Harmsen | David Ivers |
| London | John Crowley | David Tennant | Jim Broadbent | Nigel Lindsay | Adam Godley |
| New York | John Crowley | Billy Crudup | Jeff Goldblum | Željko Ivanek | Michael Stuhlbarg |
| Pittsburgh | Stuart Carden | Alex Moggridge | Tom Atkins | Simon Bradbury | Matt Gaydos |
| Portland | Rose Riordan | Cody Nickell | Sean Cullen | James Kennedy | Tim True |
| Reno | Brian Barney | Bob Grimm | David Richards | Scott Dundas | Rodney Hurst |
[edit] Other Productions
• Actors Theatre of Phoenix (Phoenix, AZ), April 27 - May 13, 2007, directed by Matthew Wiener.
• Alley Theatre (Houston, TX), January 27 - February 26, 2006, directed by Gregory Boyd.
• Little Theater at Oberlin College (Oberlin, OH), November 3 - 5, 2006, directed by Jonathan Levin.
• The Theatre Club (Tulsa, OK), November 9 - 18, 2006, directed by Scott Heberling.
• University of Central Florida (Orlando, Fl), January 10,11, and 13th, 2007, directed by Joseph Fletcher
• Denver Center Theatre Company (Denver, CO), January 11 - February 24, 2007, directed by Anthony Powell.
• Berkeley Repertory Theatre (Berkeley, CA), January 12 - March 11, 2007, directed by Les Waters.
• Brüka Theatre (Reno, NV), February 9 - March 10, 2007, directed by Brian Barney.
• Portland Center Stage (Portland, OR), February 20 - March 18, 2007, directed by Rose Riordan
• Vertigo Theatre by Ground Zero Theatre Group Calgary, March 8 - 25, 2007. directed by Kevin McKendrick.
• Studio Theatre (Washington, DC), March 14 - April 22, 2007, directed by Joy Zinoman.
• Playhouse on the Square (Memphis, TN), July 13 - July 29, 2007.
• Jon Hassler Theater (Plainview, MN), January 5th – February 4th, 2007
• Gárdonyi Géza Theater (Eger, Hungary), February 9th – May, 2007
