Written by Anglo-Irish playwright Martin McDonagh in 2003, "The Pillowman" was first presented by the National Theatre at the Cottlesloe, London on 13 Nov 2003. Described as "the darkest black comedy", this play is touted as a psychological thriller: "Set in an unnamed totalitarian state, Katurian – a fiction writer of gruesome fairy tales - has been dragged in by the police for interrogation about crimes committed in his community. They bear an uncanny resemblance to his books. As the police inspectors perform their good cop/bad cop routines, the audience will be led into the darkly funny and brutal world of the writer's, and perhaps even their own imaginations." (source: Singapore Repertory Theatre, http://www.srt.com.sg/)Helmed by 4 main characters, the play is intensely gripping with its myriad plot twists. Just when the audience is beginning to accept that Tupolski is the good cop, Ariel is the bad cop, Katurian is a naive author and Michal is a harmless retard, we are sent reeling with an unexpected twist and shown another perspective. Subverting the adage that "show rather than tell", the play is testimony to the mastery of the playwright's skills as the simple narration of Katurian's macabre children's stories during the course of the policemen's interrogation is stunningly chilling and more powerful than dramatisation. In Katurian's versions of fairy tales gone horribly wrong, his stories begin with the traditional "Once upon a time", but the child protaganists never "live happily ever after" against a contemporary setting of physically and mentally abusive parents and unfeeling adults.
The play treads a thin line between cruel humour and psychotic drama. It might even be a misnomer to label the play a "dark comedy" - the comic relief provided by Michal's childish questions only serves to accentuate the stark bleakness of Katurian's situation. As the play mirrors the torture afflicted on Katurian by the policemen with the gruesome sufferings borne by the children in Katurian's stories, the audience is assailed by a range of conflicting emotions: disturbed yet fascinated, repulsed yet sympathetic.
In fairy tales, there is usually a hero/ heroine vs. the "big bad wolf". The play is more poignant as you realise that there is no good or bad guy as everyone has their own childhood demons or emotional scars to bear. The 4 guys are actually like the Pillowman (the title of one of Katurian's stories) as they also try to save innocent children from life's misfortunes but in arguably unorthodox ways.
The play also ponders several modern-day issues:
- Fact vs. fiction? How do we know what is reported in newspapers (long held as an authoritative source of information) is the gospel truth & not made-up fiction?
- Social responsibility of writers & storytellers on how their stories will affect impressionable young minds? Reminded me of how it is the "in" thing to parody fairy tales, for e.g. Lemony Snicket's A Series of Unfortunate Events, Fractured Fairy Tales, Politically Correct Fairy Tales etc.
- Is artistic value of author's work measured by book sales? Even though Katurian manages to get only 1 of his 400 stories published (even his faithful brother Michal likes only one of his stories), he still fights and pleads with the police to preserve his works (albeit in the police case file for 50 more years). In Katurian's words, he'll choose the lives of Michal and himself over destroying his stories.
- How to nurture child prodigies? Is an imaginative mind the result of an anguished soul? While Katurian's parents used warped, even extreme measures to spur his creative talents, many great authors, such as Sylvia Plath & Robert Lowell, created some of their best works when they suffered mental breakdowns.
Acting aside, the stage design was also impressive. The projection on the wall of mostly black-and-white comic illustrations of Katurian's stories enhances the despondency of the mood. (See picture above taken from the play programme: depicts the Pillowman comforting a little girl & ways the girl can end her life)Once again, SRT works its winning formula of pairing a critically acclaimed Western script with a stellar cast of local actors. It's indeed one of the best plays I've seen. The 3-hour long play is absolutely brilliant and worth every cent of the S$50 ticket price. For those familiar to Adrian Pang's madcap antics as host of local food show "Yummy King", you'll have to see Adrian on stage to appreciate the full depth of his thespian skills. Adrian turns in a carefully nuanced performance as the multi-dimensional Tupolski and adds to the highly explosive atmosphere of the play. I still had goose bumps even after leaving the theatre.
Given the emotional and physical exertions demanded from playing such roles, I can only admire the actors' professionalism in doing an evening show, less than 2 hours after the matinee show. And they would be enacting this play for nearly 2 weeks.
Post-script: Do read this insightful, in-depth review of "The Pillowman" from The Flying Inkpot:
http://inkpot.com/theatre/08reviews/0327,thepill,at.html
