The Pillowman

by Martin McDonagh

English language

Published May 11, 2003

ISBN:: 978-0-571-22032-8

(9 reviews)

The Pillowman is a 2003 play by British-Irish playwright Martin McDonagh. It received its first public reading in an early version at the Finborough Theatre, London, in 1995, also a final and completed version of the play was publicly read in 1998 and then finished and released as a book in some places in 1999. Production started in 2000 for the eventual 2003 performance. 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 child murders occurring in his town. The play received the 2004 Olivier Award for Best New Play, the 2004-5 New York Drama Critics' Circle Award for Best New Foreign Play, and two Tony Awards for production. It was nominated for the 2004 Evening Standard Award for Best New Play.

1 edition

Alecs Ștefănescu reviewed The Pillowman by Martin McDonagh

Serious Weakness brought me here

5 stars

Porpentine recommended [1] The Pillowman in her post about "the aftermath" of writing Serious Weakness. There is a common essence between the two, though it's captured in very different forms / presentations. I loved the pace of the dialogue, and the sparse metalanguage indications were enough to bring the scenes to life clearly in my mind.

I suspect that, had I read this all the way back in high school, I would at least try my hand at staging it in the most amateur and fangirl-y way possible.