Word: pillowmanã
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...tableau, the play’s thematic juxtaposition of childhood innocence and dark violence is powerfully established. This startling contrast underscores the drama of the entire production. Directed by Ilinca Radulian ’11, and playing at the Loeb Experimental Theater until April 24, “The Pillowman?? is a dark and comedic theatrical experience whose character-driven plot comes to life with the skillfully nuanced acting of a four-person cast. Accented by glimmers of dark humor, creative props, and an unusual set, “The Pillowman?? creates a haunting world...
...props in “The Pillowman?? are as arresting and inventive as the portrayal of the characters, and further contribute to the mood of anxiety and fear in the play. Instead of actual books depicting Katurian’s stories, a stack of blank white sheets with cutout silhouettes of children represent the writer’s haunting tales. A note scrawled in blood is bundled as a tightly-wound accordion, so that the words on the folio explode as a red streak when the note is unfurled...
...evokes the sense of claustrophobia in “The Pillowman??—psychological because of the brutal torture the detectives inflict on Katurian and physical because of the intense proximity mediated by the space of the Loeb Ex itself. The set incorporates a giant translucent box, an even smaller cage imposed in the room where Katurian is imprisoned. The box is meant to represent the room where Michal was tortured as a child. Whether illuminated with sinister green neon during a scene of violence, or adorned along its edges with garlands of somber flowers in moments...
Ultimately, ”The Pillowman?? raises a number of darkly philosophical questions about the accountability of the mentally ill in violent crimes, the responsibility artists have for the emotions provoked by their art, and, perhaps most painfully, whether victims of violent abuse are ever capable of healing. Katurian seems to provide an answer to this final uncertainty when he snarls at his sister, “There are no happy endings in real life!” “The Pillowman?? does not have a happy ending either—but it is this...
According to Radulian, “The Pillowman?? ultimately blurs the boundary between fiction and reality to question the artist’s role in society...