Premièred: November 13th, 2003
This is probably the darkest thing I've ever read. Believe it or not, I came upon this play through a BuzzFeed post, "32 Plays You Need to Read Before You Die," and I thoroughly agree.
My first exposure to McDonagh was when my university performed his play The Cripple of Inishmaan last fall. The dark humor and realism the seeped from every single word drew me to his work, so there was plenty of arm twisting to get me to read The Pillowman.
The overall premise is intriguing: aspiring author writes gruesome stories; children begin dying in ways similar to what author has written. What are the chances of it being a coincidence?
With a small cast of colourful characters (all with some of the most interesting motives I have ever seen in a written work), McDonagh touches on tough topics such as child abuse, murder, police brutality, egotism, and mental illness. Parts of me feel awful because I want to laugh at the humorous areas of the play, since the lightness is riding on a gory wave of cruel intentions; however, this is The Pillowman's triumph.
Blending the elements of light and dark is one of McDonagh's skills, as is his gift for realistic and revealing dialogue. There is always new things to learn from each read through. The end is something I won't soon forget.
This is one I need to see preformed live.
Do keep in mind, it's not for the faint of heart.
★ ★ ★ ★ ★
No comments:
Post a Comment