The Pillowman

What can I say? Unsettling, disturbing, and brilliant. I read The Pillowman three days ago - yes, on Christmas night. And since then I haven't stopped thinking about it. It's a work that will haunt me for perhaps the rest of my life.

It begins on a writer being interrogated about the gruesome material of his short stories and their relation to a series of child murders. The police are officials of an unnamed totalitarian state - the reader automatically assumes it's just another story about oppression of the writer's voice. However, while freedom of speech may be a minor component of its theme, for the most part the story is about the torment people inflict upon each other. What was most fascinating about the story for me, besides the developed structure of the story, was the lifelike portrayal of the characters.

The four main characters are realistic, multi-faceted, and human. Each has recognizable motives and wants. Each develops his own pattern of speech. Each is screwed up beyond belief, yet, as I stated before, human. I could vividly see these characters as flesh and blood, living and breathing.

The protagonist, Katurian, defines himself as a storyteller. He lives for his stories, and places them before his own life. These stories are appalling, to say the least, reminiscent of the fairy tales the Brothers Grimm once recorded. Despite this, he is a sympathetic character who endures torment and sorrow as he makes his way through the twists and turns of the play.

Michal,  a mentally retarded and also disturbed man, is Katurian's brother. Michal has recently killed children in certain ways that Katurian describes in his stories. In awe of these stories, Michal does not realize that he has done anything wrong. He has a strange and twisted past that helps to explain his insanity, but I still found him to be unsympathetic.

Detective Tupolski is an investigator who views himself as detached from the cases he works to solve. He constantly portrays an apathetic attitude with his dispassionate lines and indifferent wisecracks. He is an interesting character whose lines contrast the emotional material of the play.

Detective Ariel is the opposite of Tupolski - he may not be too bright, but he cares about what he is doing. As he says, he is a good cop, not because he can solve the cases correctly, but because he stands for a just cause. He especially hates people who abuse children, and will torture them to death without thinking twice about whether or not they are guilty.

Each of these characters works their way through the play, no single character knowing everything or being able to see the brilliantly chosen paths the story takes. The playwright employs one of the most exceptionally coherent structures I have ever seen a play take on. I highly recommend this piece to anyone with a strong stomach (I had to stop several times) and a yearning for a life-changing, exhilarating experience. Read, or better yet, watch The Pillowman if you believe you are ready to be shocked and amazed.

Here's a Youtube video with some more exploration and interpretation by the Broadway cast and crew.

And here's the play on Wikipedia.

Here, here, here, here, and here are some other people's thoughts.