The Mac Weekly

Issue date: 9/28/07 Section: The Arts

Once upon a time, there was a man, nine feet tall and made of fluffy pillows. He was the Pillowman. His job was to find all the people whose lives have been horrific and painful, and help them journey back in time to when their lives were filled with happiness, and convince. them to commit suicide to prevent years of sorrow that would lead to the same place anyway. As such, the Pillowman led a profoundly sorrowful life. One day, he decided to do one last job, and met a little Pillowboy under an enormous willow tree. The Pillowboy, who only wanted to help others, readily agreed to the Pillowman's request and sets himself on fire.

Such macabre sadness and beauty fills Martin McDonagh's play "The Pillowman," now being staged at the Dowling Studio of Minneapolis's Guthrie Theater. The play debuted on Broadway in 2005, earning rave reviews and a Tony nomination for Best Play. It opens in a dark prison cell where Katurian, a writer, has been brought by the police for interrogation about the nature of his writings - sinister and bleak short stories - and their connection to a series of grisly murders occurring in the town. The play then follows the interactions between Katurian, Tupolski and Ariel, his two interrogators, and Michal, his cognitively impaired brother, through brilliant and sparkling dialogue separated by Katurian's hauntingly beautiful and disturbing stories. Along the way, the play delves deep into issues of censorship and police states, artistic responsibility and, ultimately, human nature itself. The Guthrie brings these themes, along with McDonagh's sharp wit, sinister imagery, and vibrant characters, beautifully to life in its ongoing rendition of "The Pillowman."

Throughout his work, McDonagh uses the characters of Tupolski and Ariel to offer an overt and damning critique of totalitarian regimes, particularly in regards to their relation with artists and free speech. Both police officers openly speak of torturing prisoners for information, exchanging banter about how their violent actions could potentially be classified as police brutality. Tupolski jokes about sidestepping constitutional rights, ignoring citizens' right to a fair trial and instead black-bagging and summarily executing the accused. The witty and often brilliant dialogue between Katurian and his interrogators starkly illustrates the dangers of unmonitored power in the hands of a few individuals, as the two policemen torture and humiliate Katurian for deviant messages in his stories and crimes supposedly committed.

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