The Pillowman

[February 21st, 2007] If there's a dominant theme to this year's theater season—besides cross-dressing, Portland's favorite easy gag—it's miserable children. We've seen kids neglected (Mr. Marmalade, Jingle Spree), infected (The Yellow Boat), possessed (Herringbone) and beaten (Number Three), but so far Portland Center Stage, our reliable provider of classic musicals and literary adaptations, has yet to get in on the game.

All that changes this weekend with the opening of The Pillowman, Irish playwright Martin McDonagh's wildly popular comedy of terrors about the dangerous power of literature and artistic responsibility. Directed by the company's longtime associate artistic director, Rose Riordan, the show ups the child-cruelty ante with onstage torture, murder and crucifixion.

The play is set in an unnamed police state where Katurian, a slaughterhouse janitor, passes his time caring for his mentally damaged brother and writing gruesome fairy tales about unfortunate children. When kids start showing up dead, murdered in ways described in his stories, Katurian is arrested and held accountable. And then things start to get ugly.

McDonagh, a high-school dropout whose writing is often compared to Kafka but has more in common with Quentin Tarantino, had already earned his reputation as a hilarious sociopath with his blithely violent Leenane Trilogy when The Pillowman opened in London, but it was the latter play—and its half-dozen Tony nominations—that secured him a slot in regional theater seasons across America.

Producing a work as gory as McDonagh's isn't without its challenges: "There are actual kids in this production, and some of the stories are acted out onstage," Riordan told WW. "We had an open casting call, but before we let anyone audition, their parents had to read the script and give their approval."

The parents were on board, but the company's loyal audience may not be. Last month, artistic director Chris Coleman sent a letter to PCS subscribers warning them about the show's "disturbing scenes of violence" and offering a chance to switch tickets with another production. Even if some subscribers drop out, however, Coleman expects The Pillowman to be a smashing success. "I don't know what all the fuss is about," he told WW in jest. "It's just a little girl on a cross."

—BEN WATERHOUSE.