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The Pillowman

  • Writer: Ashley Hayward
    Ashley Hayward
  • 11 minutes ago
  • 3 min read
The Pillowman. Photo by Robert Warner.
The Pillowman. Photo by Robert Warner.

The Pillowman by Martin McDonagh at the Talisman Theatre and Arts Centre, running from 3-8 November. Directed by Dave Crossfield.

Review by Ashley Hayward

 

As someone who, in a previous life, provided support to those who were victims and still suffering from the devastating effects of abuse and cruelty I must admit I felt considerable apprehension about going to see a play where these appeared to be amongst the central themes.


Set in a totalitarian state, Joanna Stevely stars as the splendidly named Katurian Katurian a fiction writer and story-teller whose work included the story of the macabre murder of small children. When an actual horrific child murder contained many similarities she was under suspicion, arrested and faced execution.


At the Talisman Theatre. Photo by Robert Warner.
At the Talisman Theatre. Photo by Robert Warner.

Joanna Stevely gives a superb performance as the writer conveying a whole range of emotions including confusion, fear, frustration and anger as she is interrogated by Detectives Tupolski (played by Ruth MacCallum) and Ariel (Ewen Weatherburn). They convincingly play the classic good cop/bad cop act as they seek to get her to confess. However, as the play moves on we learn more about their backgrounds and we see a different side to their personalities.


Many of Katurian’s stories are based on her own experience of witnessing the abuse by her parents of her brother Michal. Henri West plays the brother who is also imprisoned and he deeply portrays the effects of the long-term abuse on his mental development. He convincingly plays the part of someone who is intellectually challenged but does it with just the right amount of sensitivity. There are also some very moving exchanges between the two siblings.


The Pillowman at the Talisman. Photo by Robert Warner.
The Pillowman at the Talisman. Photo by Robert Warner.

There are good performances too from Galli Donaldson and Beverley Latham as Katurian’s sadistic parents and they also act out some of the most harrowing scenes from one of her stories.


The production is cleverly directed by Dave Crossfield and despite the disturbing subject matter it does contain plenty of dark humour (although I did have to keep asking myself whether I really should be laughing!).


There was an ingenious set which served as an authentic looking police interrogation room, a cell and a family home without the need for time consuming set changes as well as some very atmospheric lighting and occasional haunting music.


This powerful play is certainly thought provoking and realistically demonstrates the long-term effects of abuse and how events from a childhood always remain with us and often run through generations.


Joanna Stevely as Katurian Katurian. Photo by Robert Warner.
Joanna Stevely as Katurian Katurian. Photo by Robert Warner.

It also raises questions about whether the arts reflect reality or whether they can contribute towards it and do writers have a moral responsibility or as Katurian argues ‘the only duty of the story-teller is to tell the story’.


I left the theatre reflecting on the key messages and despite the trepidation I felt beforehand I was really glad that I went. After watching a play set in a police state I also felt an even greater concern about the current rise of the extreme right and the fact that we now have mainstream political parties advocating we should abandon the European Convention on Human Rights. We need to tread carefully.


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