The Pillowman

The Pillowman, by the EUTC at the Bedlam for three performances only, succeeds on many levels but cannot fully overcome some obvious problems.

Martin McDonagh’s 2003 play features the interrogation in an unnamed totalitarian state of one Katurian K. Katurian, a writer whose dark fairytales have been echoed by real-life murders.

There’s a great deal of thought-provoking stuff here about cycles of violence, state brutality and the role of the storyteller. However, you do start to wonder whether the political content says anything much, whether the fables have any real point, and whether the many instances of troubling language are there to exemplify the characters or just included to shock.

And the reason these questions come so readily to mind on this occasion is that there is such a great deal of time to ponder them. Far too much, indeed, in a production that breaks through three hours.

The stately pace that co-directors Rishi Bhardwaj and Scarlett Guang have fashioned means that the snappy rhythm necessary for the play’s (extremely dark) humour to succeed is not often achieved.

There are more mundane considerations, too. Having a running time a full hour longer than is advertised will lead to problems, not least in terms of audience comfort when even the interval is practically two hours after the start. (Despite the onset of Spring, the Bedlam auditorium is as chilly as expected).

Not that what is on stage is inadequate. Much of it is very good. The two police interrogators, Tupolski (Georgia Thomas) and Ariel (Tai Remus Elliot) are particularly impressive. Elliot is chilling in Ariel’s more extreme moments, and handles the shifts in the character well. Thomas provides the most convincing handling of the play’s humour during Tupolski’s own storytelling stint towards the close, and has a comic assurance throughout.

Nik Pivovarsky has a steadfast humanity as Katurian, with the character’s wrestling with moral dilemmas made beautifully clear. The narration of his various stories also has considerable authority. Ben Black has a similar believability as his brother Michal; the character as written is a problematic one, but Black gives him a genuine force.

One of the problems with The Pillowman is making Katurian’s stories appear vital to him, and potentially dangerous to the audience. Their onstage presentation tends to undermine this; here, despite a somewhat earnest, over-literal approach, they come close to suggesting that power. Oliver Mason, Dora Revell, Sonia Ostrovsky act these out diligently and creatively; Ellie Donoghue also performs her role impressively.

The lighting (by Cal Hind and Audrey Nicholls) is effectively atmospheric, while there are elements of the staging that work tremendously well. Providing a corridor outside the interrogation room is an excellent idea; the scene where Tupolski eavesdrops on Ariel and Katurian outside the door is possibly the production’s most successful moment.

However, that door should just be left where it is. Doors on stage can be recalcitrant enough without being moved around as much as this one is, and the re-setting of scenes takes far too long, stretching out an already protracted first half. When your production is over three hours, you simply cannot afford to spend minutes at a time re-dressing sets unnecessarily.

That the end results of these movements does not justify the time spent does not mean that there is no effort or imagination behind them. On the contrary, it is the result of trying to do too much.

Similarly, the pacing issues come from over-reverence rather than lack of thought. This reverence means that there is an attempt at realism at some of the more harrowing moments that paradoxically makes them more artificial. Far better to go for broke and present the extremes in as extreme a fashion as possible.

There is enough talent here to overcome the problems, and to suggest that it could have been more effective. While the humour and the nastiness of the play don’t always come across, its troubled humanity shines through.

Running time: Three hours and 10 minutes (including one interval).

While the cosy title of the Pillowman makes one think of comfort and love, a warming fairytale for family and friends alike, DO NOT BE FOOLED!

Bedlam’s latest ambitious output, directed by Rishi Bhardwaj & Scarlett Guang, and adapted from the original production by Martin McDonagh, presents the depraved tale of Katurian. Katurian himself is under suspicion for the murder of three children, which is replicated in the stories which he had been writing. Transitioning flawlessly between reality and fantasy, the staging uses Bedlam’s modest set options to their full potential as we move inside the mind and past of Katurian.

Nik Pivovarsky, playing this central protagonist, handles the emotional depth of the character with ease, never moving offstage, yet moving from a snarky writer which we all recognise to the damaged young man lying beneath. Pivovarksy unravels the character who was forced into the reality of what he wrote. Alongside him is his brother, Michal, adeptly portrayed by Ben Black, who has brilliant chemistry with Pivovarsky when portraying the relationship, and the struggle we see develop between the brothers over time.

The investigation sees dark humour injected into the show, with the caricature of police brutality and antagonization brilliantly created by Georgia Thomas and Tai Remus Elliot. The pair act with brilliant energy together, and while finding it difficult sometimes within the confines of the script to fully relay the depth of the characters, with Thomas as Tupolski struggling to be either simply opportunistic or fully sadistic, their chemistry with Pivovarsky and the savagery of their story leaves their roles being memorable.

The show handles the difficult task of integrating fairytales, if they can be named as such, as each one is more gruesome than the last, with ease, moving the set and utilising props to bring the gore of the show to life with Dora Revell, Oliver Mason and Sonia Ostrovsky being at the core of this, particularly in enacting the Little Jesus story. And amid this, the true stand out is the costuming of the titular Pillowman story, a child’s dream truly comes to life in nightmarish form.

There is some mixed messaging throughout, such as the mentions of a totalitarian state which don’t quite service the play, however, the overall efforts of the cast and the production team make this an impactful and potent watch.