Phillyist Reviews... The Pillowman

The premise is simple and nothing new: a man, taken into custody for reasons he's not aware of. He is taken to a secret jail and interrogated, tortured even, by two police officers of a totalitarian state that seems like it could be Soviet but might not be. When he won't—can't?—speak, his only living brother, "special" in all the politically correct ways of speaking, is questioned too, used to bait the man who still doesn't understand how he could have been brought to that cell.

But at that point, The Pillowman takes a sharp turn from convention. The man imprisoned is Katurian K. Katurian (his "parents were funny people"). He is a writer of mostly morbid short stories—and two children have recently turned up dead by methods proscribed therein. Actor Saxon Palmer plays the troubled writer with all the confusion and humor that the character needs. He is immediately likable, and even as the truth is revealed about his past, you can't help but continue to like him. It's a testament, not only to Palmer's acting abilities, but to the well-crafted script by British/Irish (depending on who you ask) playwright Martin McDonagh, and to the excellent direction of Philadelphia theatre presence Jiri Zizka.

Imprisoned with Katurian is his older brother Michal (played by Peter Pryor, who is quite convincing as someone with diminished mental capabilities). They share a small prison cell where they await interrogation or torture from Ariel (Michael Pemberton), a police officer, and Tupolski (Lewis J. Stadlen), a police detective, both of whom surprise the audience up to the very end of the play. And while in the prison cell, Katurian tells Michal his stories to help calm him and put him to sleep—although how a person could possibly sleep after hearing some of these stories is beyond me. It's here that we hear the play's title story, "The Pillowman," that, while troubling, is also really rather beautiful. When, at the end of the play, the motif of the Pillowman's character is brought up again, it seems the most fitting end that McDonagh could have given his work.

Another great star of the show is Robert Pyzocha's set, which is impressive at the beginning of the production and almost startling later on. It's in this set where both the harsh reality of the jail Katurian is kept in, and the fantasy world of his stories, can exist simultaneously and yet in completely different spaces. (Jerold R. Forsyth's lighting design certainly doesn't hurt in the creation of this divide, either.) In the fantasy world, Aaryn Kopp, Jared McLenigan, Kalev Patrick Rudolph, and Michaela Shuchman perform as assorted characters from Katurian's stories. The bits performed upstage are all incredibly surreal: the sound disembodied and spooky (thanks, surely, to Bill Moriarty, the sound designer), the acting almost puppet-like. At one or two points, you might find yourself jumping out of your skin because of what happens up there. And as uncomfortable as it makes you (the play, not just the story-scenes), it works. It works beautifully.

I'm not going to lie. When the play is over, you'll leave it quite spent. It's a little on the long side, but that's not why. The real reason you'll feel so exhausted is that the ending that happens is the one you expect, but also the one you spent two and a half hours hoping against. It's rare to get that involved in a character. But when it happens, you know that that's what theatre is supposed to be like. Brecht be damned, I want to get lost in my plays.

The Pillowman continues at the Wilma Theatre through November 5. For more information, see The Wilma Theater's website.