Review: A Blistering, Searing No-Holds-Barred Thriller Takes Center Stage with Martin Mcdonagh’s THE PILLOWMAN at Jobsite Theater

“The only duty of a storyteller is to tell a story...” -Katurian

“It doesn’t matter if you’re dead, it matters what you leave behind...”- Katurian

361 days... since the last time, our friends at Jobsite have staged the last Martin McDonagh play. Now, let that sink in for a moment.

This is a testament to the vast breadth of work the Ensemble in Residence at Jobsite Theater continues to produce for the Shimberg and other Straz Center stages.

For 361 days ago, down to the very minute, I found myself just like you sitting with baited breath, as the Curtain Speech was presented and the lights fell on the Opening of McDonagh’s The Beauty Queen of Leenane.

This evening, or rather last evening, during their “Final Preview,” I was once again regaled to my seat with baited breath as I waited for the lights to fall on McDonagh’s masterpiece and, forthrightly, my favorite play, The Pillowman.

The Pillowman, a 2003 play, is written by Martin McDonagh. It received its first reading of an earlier version at the Finborough Theatre in London in 1995. Following a  public reading of a Completed version in 1998, Production began on the 2003 version in early 2000. The story and its events follow Katurian, a fiction writer living in a totalitarian police state. Katurian is interrogated about a series of very gruesome child murders, connected within the events of their stories.

McDonagh’s play went on to receive many accolades, including, the 2004 Olivier Award for Best New Play, the 2004-5 Best New Foreign Play Award from the New York Drama Critic’s Circle, and two Tony Awards for Production.

Its 2003 National Theater Production featured David Tennant as Katurian, Jim Broadbent as Tupolski, Nigel Lindsay as Ariel, and Adam Godley as Michal. In 2005, The Pillowman made its Broadway Debut with Billy Crudup as Katurian, Jeff Goldblum as Tupolski, Zeljko Ivanek as Ariel, and Michael Stuhlbarg as Michal.

Following in the footsteps of the 2023 West-End Revival which features Lily Allen as Katurian, Steve Pemberton as Tupolski, Paul Kaye as Ariel, and Matthew Tennyson as Michal, our friends at Jobsite have cast Georgia Mallory Guy as Katurian, Paul Potenza as Tupolski, Steven Sean Garland as Ariel, and Troy Padriac Brooks as Michal.

McDonagh’s play delivers here with searing dialogue, dark comedic moments, and moments that will grip you to the edge of your seat and chill you to the bone. McDonagh’s inspiration stems from his own fairy-tale writings such as “The Chair and the Wolfboy,” “The Short Fellow and the Strange Frog,” and “The Violin and the Drunken Angel,” all can be found in the earlier stages of his writing career. In fact, one of Katurian’s stories, is based off inspiration McDonagh received following a conversation in 1998 with Irish Drama Critic Fintan O’Toole, in which McDonagh retold the Grimm’s Fairytale version of Little Red Riding Hood, by which he said, “the Wolf’s stomach is filled with rocks and sewn with green wire, leading to the Wolf’s death.” He then commented, “I would love to write something as horrific as that if I could..” possibly alluding to Katurian’s story “The Little Apple Man.”

David Jenkins and Summer Bohnenkamp, as Co-Directors, have assembled an all-star team to present McDonagh’s chilling work.

As Katurian, Georgia Mallory Guy is a marvel. Her performance will shake you to the core. Grounded in honesty and plight, you are along on her journey every step of the way. Last seen on-stage with Jobsite for Constellations, this is a very welcomed return and the strongest turn I have seen her deliver thus far. You hang on her every word and are so dialed in from start to finish it is impossible to look away. A true Masterclass at the hands of Georgia and a stirring, moving, and ultimately visceral performance I soon won’t forget.

As Tupolski, Paul Potenza proves once again why he is one of the most sought-after performers’ of his time. Having seen many a stirring turn from him, his Tupolski is no different. He’s didactic, cognitive, manipulative, and altogether human at the same time. The cerebral nature of his performance is grounded from every moment-to- moment. His turn in TampaRep’s  The Elephant Man,was a ground-breaking and searing portrayal, but here as Tupolski, he’s hauntingly good, almost nightmarishly brilliant and makes for a stunning portrayal, that I could see again and again. You almost expect him to use the gun attached to his hip at his will, there is a ruthless deliverance to his “Good Cop” persona that I won’t soon let go of.

As Ariel, Steven Sean Garland is like a bolt of lightning, ready to explode. He feeds into the “Bad Cop” persona so well, it almost humanizes the otherworld nature of the dynamic between the two cops. Grounded in his plight, you find the root of his nature, his deliverance to be forced upon by memories of his childhood, proving that he is not really a bad guy, but had bad things done to him, influencing his decisions later in life. His commupance is delivered in the final stages of the show, when you see him, vulnerable and painfully shielded from his past, by doing what he knows is right. Its almost like his forgiveness, his ammends, to his past, and hopefully a purpose of his future days.

The company making up this incredibly visceral and searing performance is so methodically grounded in every moment, its hard to point out one performer over another, the unit as a whole is the strongest company I have seen for quite sometime, probably one of the strongest I have seen over the last decade. I would be remiss, if I didn’t point out the sheer brilliance delivered by everyone onstage.

Troy Padraic Brooks delivers a career-changing performance as Michal. He takes the stage and leaves nothing in his wake. The brilliance behind every delivery of dialogue, to the movements that are so expertly planned, and brilliantly performed, you forget your watching someone who has been seen across the Bay Area, and in many Jobsite productions as of late. This is the strongest turn I have seen from this Actor, probably ever. Nothing is fake, nothing is made out to be a caricature, for in his inherent nature, you find a truly grounded, honest, and crippling performance, that will be seared into my memory for time to come. His moment-to-moment is so dynamic, you almost forget everything that he has done before, but in a way, it led him to this brilliant and heartbreaking, captivating turn. Brava indeed.

As the child, Porter Long is believable here, and a welcomed debut to the Jobsite family. The sheer magnitude of gasp uttered from the audience, is one you will have to witness for yourself.

Summer and David have once again, brought a dynamic team to the stage, and the company of The Pillowman is so hauntingly human, and expertly paced down to the finest detail. I will use this moment to go on record to say that McDonagh’s work has proven to be a staple in the Jobsite cannon- much like Shakespeare, and their trope into the Horror realm. Here’s hoping that David Jenkins and team continue their March Madness into the mind of McDonagh, because they have captured something here of sheer brilliance, and I cannot wait to see what they do next.

That is one of the more intriguing things about McDonagh’s work. Rather than create caricatures in the mind of what these people may have been like, his characters are grounded and ultimately human in their most truest of forms.

Technically sound, and beautifully rendered, the world of The Pillowman, comes across almost clinical, which works for the gruesome events that unfold. You expect blood, and the stark white in contrast magnifies the effect brilliantly. Chris Giuffre’s Set Design is brilliantly displayed here, and evocatively complimented by the brilliant lighting design by Jo Averill-Snell. Katrina Stevenson’s costuming works well for each character, and displays their unique personalities. Illustrations by Spencer P. Meyers lend well to the gruesome events of each story, and Sound Design by Jeremy Douglass perfectly evokes the world in which the story takes place. With Stage Management by Dr. Jessie Dorsey, he keeps the moments of the play moving at an expert pace, everything going off without a hitch.

There was a book written by Jason Rekulak entitled Hidden Pictures, and much like the world of McDonagh’s The Pillowman, gruesome events are brought to life through images produced from an imaginative nature. I found myself recalling events of that story while traversing through Katurian’s world. Martin McDonagh’s The Pillowman has been seared into my memory, and become my favorite play, from the very first moment I held the words in my hand in college. This was my very first time seeing the script staged, and this production, this cast, this moment, will be living rent-free in my head for the foreseeable future, and its story will stick to you long after the lights fall and you leave the theatre. That my friends is the makings of a job well-done, and Jobsite continues to pave the way, and produce those images, those performances, you won’t soon forget. Tickets can be purchased by visiting www.strazcenter.org.

“When you eliminate the impossible, all that remains, however improbable,must be the truth.” Hidden Pictures by Jason Rekulak

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