Washington University Performing Arts Department Presents THE PILLOWMAN Nov 19-22

There are good parents and there are bad parents and then there are the outrageously horrible parents of Katurian K. Katurian, the writer at the center of Martin McDonagh's macabre, pitch-black comedy The Pillowman.

This month Washington University's Performing Arts Department in Arts & Sciences will present The Pillowman - winner of the 2004 Olivier Award for Best New Play - in the A.E. Hotchner Studio Theatre.

Performances begin at 8 p.m. Thursday, Friday and Saturday, Nov. 19, 20 and 21; and at 2 p.m. Saturday and Sunday, Nov. 21 and 22. The A.E. Hotchner Studio Theatre is located in the Mallinckrodt Student Center, 6445 Forsyth Blvd. Tickets are $15, or $10 for students, seniors and Washington University faculty and staff, and are available through the Edison Theatre Box Office and all MetroTix outlets.

For more information, call (314) 935-6543.

Set amidst a Kafkaesque police state, The Pillowman opens in a stark interrogation room, where the adult Katurian - a slaughterhouse worker beginning to find recognition as a writer of gruesome fairy tales - sits blindfolded, his brother Michal in the adjoining room. Their interrogators, the outrageously profane good-cop-bad-cop duo of Tupolski and Ariel, suspect that Katurian's stories may not be entirely fiction. And in fact, they do bear remarkable resemblance to a series of grisly child murders that the detectives are currently investigating.

"This is not an easy play," warns Annamaria Pileggi, senior lecturer in the PAD, who directs the cast of seven. "It's extraordinarily dark, the language is very dense, and there's a fairly high level of violence - its grimmer than Grimms."

"And yet The Pillowman is also hysterically funny," Pileggi continues. "Tupolski and Ariel are sarcastic and patronizing and say outlandish things that almost make you feel uncomfortable for laughing. You find yourself laughing, and then look around to make sure everyone else is too."

Much of the play unfolds through Katurian's stories and flashbacks, which are narrated and acted out on stage. Of particular importance is the tale "The Writer and The Writer's Brother," a semi-autobiographical account of Katurian's traumatic childhood. Recognizing his budding talent, Katurian's parents devise a twisted experiment, showering him with love and affection while Michal - of whose existence Katurian is kept unaware - is locked in the next room, chained to his bed. For seven years the only connection between the brothers are the sounds of Michal's torments echoing through the walls.

"In the story, Michal dies but, when Katurian finally breaks down the door, Michal is holding his own story, which is better than anything Katurian has ever written," Pileggi says. "But that's just in the story. Onstage, Katurian finishes reading and then says, 'Now here's how the real story goes...'

"I think McDonagh is basically exploring the nature of live theater," Pileggi adds. "And he's putting things on stage that frankly just aren't put on stage. In a way, he plays both ends against the middle: he wants a certain stylized theatricality, but he also wants a level of realism to the violence. He wants it to be upsetting.

"McDonagh is also challenging our notions about good and evil, and about the nature and purpose of art," Pileggi concludes. "How far you can push the envelope, without pushing too far?

"Just because you don't like something - because it's gruesome or profane or for whatever reason - does that mean its not art?"

The cast is led by sophomore John Ganiard as Katurian and junior Dan Tobin as Michal. Max Risman and senior Ben Walsh is play Tupolski and Ariel, the "good-cop-bad-cop" interrogators. Senior Ginny Page and junior Jonathan Emden play three sets of parents, including Katurian's. Freshman Melissa Freilich plays children in two of Katurian's stories.

Sets designs are by Sean Savoie, lecturer in the PAD. Costumes are by senior Ellen Minch. Lighting and sound are by Jonathan Lebovic and senior Adina Talve-Goodman. Mark Rubinstein is special effects supervisor.

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