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 Nowhere to hide ✭✭✭ Chris Jones Recommends: HOTTEST TICKET March 5, 2010 Kimberly Senior's storefront take on Martin McDonagh's "The Pillowman" has been playing since November at Redtwist Theatre. It's not hard to see why. This is, inarguably, McDonagh's most gripping drama, and by staging the action inside a theater with only 30 seats, Senior shoves her audience right inside the interrogation room with the accused writer and his nasty stories. Those staged stories aren't as creepy as they were in the original London and New York productions, but the performances are uniformly strong and the remainder of this inventive and visceral production drips with authenticity and tension. _______________________________________ *** ½ "unforgettable production" Nina Metz Special to the Tribune, Nov. 25, 2009 Certain things can only be revealed in close-up. It's a tool well-suited to cinema but not often practical in theater unless the space is small and the director exceptionally clever. Which brings us to Kimberly Senior's unforgettable production of "The Pillowman" for Redtwist Theatre, which opened over the weekend and nails what far too few off-Loop theater companies (and their directors) are willing to go after. I'm speaking of intimacy that nearly goes too far. Considering the material at hand -- a black hole of grisly doings and spirited dark comedy from playwright Martin McDonagh -- the tactic is a gamble. A writer of short fiction named Katurian is under interrogation, accused of crimes that mimic his stories of torture and murder (played expertly by Andrew Jessop as a man whose vanity gets the better of him). What unfolds is a bonanza of grim campfire tales tucked inside a police procedural, wherein brotherly bonds are poked and prodded, and the lingering effects of abusive parents are splayed out for all to see. A hefty chunk of McDonagh's reputation as a dramatist (his works include "The Lieutenant of Inishmore," seen at Northlight last season) is based on his knack for heightening human depravity and daring audiences to look away. And yet, in one hell of a gutsy move, Senior takes all that instinct for recoil, gives it the heave-ho and places her actors within inches of the audience, which flanks two sides of the theater like a jury. The blocking is tight and cramped. The cast has barely enough room to maneuver, and when they tussle they almost go splat right on your shoes. Sometimes you're watching a scene from over an actor's shoulder. Any false moves, and the effect -- the jokes and the drama -- would be blown, but the ensemble is up to the task and then some. Senior has assembled a crackerjack design team as well (Christopher Burpee's lighting is especially focused) who have created a ripe, eavesdropping environment. It's dire stuff, but McDonagh wants to have fun, too. The interrogation borders on the inane half the time, at turns hilarious and appalling. The dialogue, with its Mamet-esque flavor, is a cacophony of interrupted utterances and overblown egos forever explaining their side of things. It's a rip-roaring experience, and one that I think McDonagh would appreciate quite a lot, for "The Pillowman" is full of claustrophobic moments and large-scale exaggerations. But above all, the play is an excuse to talk about storytelling itself, which in this case is done best in small, precise increments, preferably in a room with a low ceiling, better to trap all those emotions before they dissipate in the air. There is an object lesson here, I think. Three years ago Steppenwolf staged this play in a production that was good (and a good bit roomier) if not exactly special. Something about the expansive dimensions of that show allowed audiences to sit back and ponder the work from afar, whereas the shrunken confines at Redtwist force you to admire it from within. There is no escape. In theater, this is a very good thing. _______________________________________ December 28, 2009 Intense and up close in '09: Best of On the Fringe From her weekly ON THE FRINGE column in the Tribune, critic Nina Metz picks her favorite show : We've all had a tough year, but even a gutted economy was no match for the ingenuity that fueled some of Chicago's smallest theater companies in 2009. Only a tiny theater on the fringe can deliver this kind of close proximity between actors and audience. The strongest defy expectations and fold you into the experience. Each season has its share of crummy shows. You want guarantees, buy a toaster. No matter what, there are always a select few productions that create the kind of entertaining thrills that have nothing to do with money or recognizable names. With that in mind, we give you our top Fringe picks from 2009. “The Pillowman” (Redtwist Theatre): Director Kimberly Senior turned a square-footage problem into an asset for this production of Martin McDonagh's dark comedy of grisly campfire stories, seating the audience mere inches away from the actors. Like a cinematic close-up, the show offers the kind of heavy-breathing immediacy rarely achieved in the theater — fringe or otherwise. It's an incredibly exciting show and a real achievement for Redtwist, and audiences clearly agree; the show has been extended through February. Back to top  Highly
RecommendedTom Williams, www.chicagocritic.com Date Reviewed: November 21, 2009 Searing thriller is filled with pitch-black humor and terrifying storytelling makes The Pillowman riveting theatre! Under talented director Kimberly Senior and sporting a top list of actors, Redtwist Theatre’s production of Martin McDonagh’s The Pillowman becomes one of the finest, most intense black comedies to appear on a storefront stage in many years. This Pillowman works much better than the 2006 production that got lost on the large Steppenwolf theatre main stage. Director Senior and her production staff cleverly used every inch of the intimate Redtwist storefront theatre. In this production, the audience members are like flies on the wall as they are inches from the action. This adds to the intensity of the show. The Pillowman is a departure for Irish playwright Martin McDonagh as it isn’t an Irish drama. But it sure contains McDonagh’s sense of pitch-black sick humor as he depicts two tough detectives from an Eastern European totalitarian state.The Pillowman is the story about a short story fiction writer who is accused of perpetrating the very acts he depicts in his murderous stories. The early scenes effectively build the mystery and the dramatic tension as Katurian (Andrew Jessop) and Tupolski (Tom Hickey)-the good cop and Ariel (Johnny Garcia)-the bad cop takes turns interrogating Katurian, the writer. The Pillowman is filled with a series of wonderfully presented storytelling (mostly presented by Andrew Jessop as Kuturian) that were creatively staged in this production. The terror builds once we learn that three murders actually happened almost exactly like those in Katurian’s stories. Once we meet Katurian’s simple-minded brother Michal (Peter Oyloe in a winningly eerie performance) we experience how effective stories can influence behavior. Is life imitating art? Without giving away too much, let me say that both Katurian and Michal’s bringing up gave Katurian’s imagination fuel for his stories. McDonagh weaves the plot with haunting past life experiences from the cops as well as the writer and his brother. We see and hear about severed fingers and toes, a little girl with a Jesus complex, a child buried alive as well as we witness police torture. Violence permeates the action. The Pillowman grabs us and keeps us on the edge of our seats throughout. With swift pacing and tight direction, this production features fabulous articulation from the entire cast that extracts all the black humor and all the irony and nuanced meanings. Andrew Jessop as the writer, Katurian, anchors the play. Jessop nicely lands his monologues and his verbalizing of his stories with effective articulation. This is a breakthrough performance for Jessop. His acting skills shine in this show. Tom Hickey uses his wry sense of humor most effectively as the ‘good cop’ Tupolski. Hickey and Jessop have several wonderful scenes as the two interrogate each other. I was also impressed with Jessop in the pivotal scenes as he and his brother Michal talk about being jailed. Peter Oyloe was terrific as the simple-minded brother who was most affected by his brother’s writings. Oyloe and Jessop had powerful chemistry. Oyloe cherishes playing misfits. The Pillowman moves into a hysterical edge of creepy storytelling theatre ripe with despair, child abuse and doom. The Redtwist Theatre production is riveting, shocking and thrilling. Tom Hickey, Peter Oyloe and, especially Andrew Jessop, were outstanding. The Pillowman proves that Chicago storefront theatre is red hot! Back to top  4 Masks**** "quality theater that deserves to be seen" Reviewed by Al Bresloff, www.steadstylechicago.com "To do white hot drama in a tiny black box with a little red twist" is what Redtwist Theatre is all about and their current production, Martin McDonagh's "The Pillowman" is all that and more. This is a hard, heavy story that deals with two brothers and their unusual lives. Katurian (a strong and solid performance by Andrew Jessop) is a writer of sorts, primarily short stores and he is being held by the local police as his stories are very close to some murders that have taken place in their town. His brother Michal (Peter Oyloe in another amazing character study) has a learning disability and is considered "slow". Under the protection of Katurian, he is being schooled and has a life. Their past is somewhat tainted by the way their parent raised the two boys. There are flashbacks that show why they are who they are, but these need to be seen as director Kimberly Senior has done a remarkable job of bringing this story to the very intimate Redtwist. Did I say intimate? Well, this show for the most part takes place within inches of the audience. In fact, during the police station scenes, each time the file cabinet was utilized, I had to move my arm for fear of being in the show. Senior has created a stage on the floor with seats on both sides of the stage, looking right into the main action, and on each side, smaller stage areas. The marvelous sets are designed by Anders Jacobson and Judy Radovsky, who prove that there are no limits to the creativity of a designer, in spite of the usable area. The officers, Tom Hickey as the "good cop" and Johnny Garcia "the bad," are powerful characters that play well off each other. For those of you who watch cop shows on TV, these guys are as strong as you have ever seen. All of the other characters are those of the past or involved in the case at hand. While the roles themselves are smaller, the importance to the power of the story is keen. I have always said that the key to a solid production is the ensemble taking on small but important roles and they so so to perfection: Joey Lesiak, Jimmy Wilson-Shutter, Casey Cunningham and Marissa Meo all do their part. This is a prop heavy story and so a special note on the job done by Deborah Lindell and the lighting by Christopher Burpee sets the dark tone of the story. McDonagh is a powerful writer who has created a thrilling story that gets deep into the soul of the main characters and despite the storyline and its darkness, he has given us some comical moments that make this story more palatable. This show is not for youngsters or those who are uneasy with violence on stage. Stephen James Anderson's fights and violence at very close range are very realistic. There is a great deal to contend with, but all of it is needed for the story to take on it's true life. There are several stories contained in this production and each of the main characters has some secrets. For most of the scenes, you will find yourself on the edge of your seat watching the way that these actors develop the characters written by McDonagh. The relationship between the brothers is very realistic and there is a chemistry between Oyloe and Jessop that makes you feel that they are in fact brothers. This is not normal Holiday fare but is quality theater that deserves to be seen. Redtwist has been earning their stripes so to speak, as one of the premier storefront theaters in Chicago and this production is worthy of more Jeff nominations. "The Pillowman", a key story within the play, will continue through December 27, 2009 at The Redtwist Theatre located at 1044 West Bryn Mawr. I would hope they can extend it because the limited size of the venue will make it difficult for the theater lovers of Chicago to get a ticket. But try, it is well worth it. Performances are Thursday, Friday and Saturday at 8 pm., Sunday 3 p.m. (no performances on 11/26,12/3, 12/24 and 12/25). Tickets range from $22-$30, a bargain for quality this strong. Tickets can be purchased by calling 773-728-7529 or www.redtwist.org/Tickets.html. You can also e-mail at reserve@redtwist.org. Back to top Critical Evaluation: **** out of **** by Richard Eisenhardt The Redtwist Theatre is a tiny black box theatre that is known for white-hot drama that they say has a little red twist. "The Pillowman" is by Irish playwright Martin McDonagh and his claim to being a top Irish writer is to write strong meat and potatoes dramas and this is no exception. Kimberly Senior is the director and the show features three Redtwist ensemble members - Andrew Jessop as Katurian, Johnny Garcia as Ariel and Peter Oyloe as Michal. The show runs two hours and a half and is a spellbinding drama with dark humor about a writer Katurian who is accused of perpetrating the very acts depicted in his murderous stories. The show offers audience its share of violence and blood. Tom Hickey is Tupolski, one of the interrogators and [Johnny Garcia is] Ariel is the policeman who loves to torture his prisoners. Both give strong hard-hitting performances. The show is performed in three acts and five scenes. Katurian and Michal are brothers and their roles played by Jessop and Oyloe are done to perfection as both show it isn't always necessary to be equity actors to give audiences something to impress them. Oyloe won a Jeff citation a few years ago for the Redtwist production of Peter Shaffer's "Equus," which he will reprise for Redtwist in the Spring of 2010. The only other time I saw this show was at Steppenwolf Theatre and Michael Shannon had the role Oyloe has and Tracey Letts played Tupolski. If you love serious drama I urge you to not only see this show but also support Redtwist Theatre with their other productions. The space is perfect for non-equity professional theatre. Others in the cast are Casey Cunningham, Joey Lesiak, Jimmy Wilson-Schutter and Marissa Meo. Back to top  A "Must See" Show Martin McDonagh's devastating script, about a writer accused of committing the murders his stories describe, is not new to Chicago. In fact, Steppenwolf's version of the hit play closed in 2006. But the big production of "Pillowman," staged in the 'wolf's spacious main venue, might have been too big. Redtwist's intense, up-close actors and jail-cell sized theatre should give audiences twice the in-yer-face horror at a fraction of the price. Reviewer: Laura Kolb, Saturday Nov 21, 2009 Once upon a time, there was dark and narrow room used for brutal interrogations by the police of a totalitarian dictatorship. One day, a writer named Katurian Katurian (Andrew Jessop) came into that room, and, between smacks to the head, he began to tell his story. The tale that unfolds in Martin McDonagh's "The Pillowman" takes place almost entirely in these oppressive confines. In Redtwist's intimate storefront space, the claustrophobia is literal as well as atmospheric. But the play's real discomfort comes from the murky psychological and moral space its characters are trying to navigate. Katurian writes grisly short stories in which children suffer terribly, usually at the hands of adults (think Charles Dickens meets Edward Gorey). Someone has been recreating Katurian's horrid scenarios in real life, and the police (Tom Hickey and Johnny Garcia) believe he and his troubled brother (Peter Oyloe) are involved. As the line begins to blur between Katurian's life story and his fables, we realize that the ghastly universe inside his head reflects a real world in which little kids are brutally abused at home, or brutally murdered when they go outside. Katurian's, and apparently McDonagh's, only moral certainty is that child abuse is really, really bad. Killing adult abusers (or pretty much any adult; they're all a bit rotten) is fine. Child murder is itself a gray area, since dead kids aren't suffering kids. As for totalitarianism and its attendant evils (police brutality, insidious anti-Semitism, rampant censorship), well, they really have nothing on the crazy, crazy insanity of domestic life in this unnamed state. Squeam-inducing as McDonagh's now well-known script is, the strong ensemble cast inflects the production with liveliness, adding sparkles of wit to the tense cat-and-mouse game of interrogation. Two candy-colored scenes (sets by Anders Jacobson and Judy Radovsky) turn nightmare narrative into visual treat. Overall, though, the oppressive darkness of the opening scene never lifts. Given the nature of the play, it's an open question whether this is an artistic failure, or success. Back to top  RECOMMENDEDReviewed by Lisa Buscani Read any Brothers Grimm lately? That stuff was pretty bloody before we sanitized it for modern child protection. But those yarns were only reflections of their times, simplified literary snapshots of our natural malice. It’s the same device used to great effect in “The Pillowman.” Katurian (Andrew Jessop) is taken into custody and questioned about gruesome stories he’s written, tales similar to local child murders. He protests his innocence only to discover his guilt by influential association. Jessop skillfully embodies Katurian’s confusion and disorientation, Peter Oyloe shows painful vulnerability as Michal, Katurian’s child-like brother. Tom Hickey and Johnny Garcia perform a vicious vaudeville as the case’s detectives; Hickey’s nuanced menace is both hilarious and threatening. Director Kimberly Senior’s staging places the audience uncomfortably close to the action, leaving no escape from the piece’s brutality. It’s a reminder that we can’t ignore our cruelty or destroy the records that commemorate it. Back to top  RECOMMENDED Reviewed by Justin Hayford Staging just about anything in Redtwist's cramped storefront space is an exercise in claustrophobia--a fact director Kimberly Senior adroitly exploits in this harrowing production. Martin McDonagh's 2003 play focuses on Katurian Katurian, a writer facing bumbling, terrifying police interrogation after children have been found murdered in the precise fashion outlined in his gruesome short stories. Senior places the actors in a narrow alley between opposing rows of seats, so audience members have a close-up view of the cat-and-mouse game. A smart, meticulous cast play most everything tight to the vest, making for a taut, absorbing evening. Peter Oyloe's performance as Katurian's mentally impaired brother is the show's heartbreaking highlight. Back to top  HIGHLY RECOMMENDED Published on November 24, 2009, reviewed by Timothy McGuire The Pillowman by Martin McDonagh is a dark suspenseful thriller, morbidly twisted and a must see. With the audience just 2 rows deep and the questioning table within reach of getting caught by one of officer Ariel’s blows, Redtwist Theatre offers the audience a chance to truly feel like a fly on the wall with the creepiest of scenes happening right in front of you. Behind the dark stories is a sense a loyalty, pride and even true love, but even that is as creatively perverse as I have ever seen on stage. The Pillowman is a story of an author (Katurian) who is being questioned by the police of a totalitarian state in the deaths of three children that were murdered in the same fashion described in detail in the fictional stories conjured up in Katurian’s head. As the interrogation continues, stories of Katurian’s tortured life are told and each new development is slightly more disturbing and more fascinating. The gruesome twists show the genius and passion in Katurian’s writing and its importance to him above everyone and everything else. Katurian loves his writing; he would die for his writing and maybe even kill for his writing. In the end he realizes that the person that loved him the most made the biggest sacrifice of all. Each actor brought a sense of reality to their role. The cops bounce off of one another as Johnny Garcia plays the “bad cop” Ariel with brutal anger and Tom Hickey brings sinister professionalism to the role of Tupolski. Hickey never seems to be acting; he brings a natural coldness as if it is his real job. Peter Oyloe movingly plays the mentally challenged brother Michal. He keeps Michal real by recognizing his lack of cognitive ability with out overplaying his handicap. While Michal understands the heinous acts that have occurred he still registers no emotional connection to the consequences for the crimes. There is a certainness and confidence in Michal even though he is mentally challenged. Andrew Jessop brings out the humanness of author Katurian. Katurian is scared and confused, and if he is evil he is far from admitting it. Katurian’s innocent nature draws the audience’s sympathy and allows the stories that are told to really connect and yank you down the tormenting experiences of his childhood. Jessop is the storyteller and the audience’s emotional liaison into who killed the girls and why. With no distance between the performance and the audience Director Kimberly Senior has utilized more stage room than I thought was available with hidden side rooms appearing to recreate Katurian’s childhood flashbacks. The intimacy within such a complicated script can only be accomplished with an immense attention to detail. Senior and her staff have produced the best storefront show running in Chicago. Chicagoans are lucky. If The Pillowman was a movie it would be a Blockbuster hit and the suspense thriller of the year, but nothing can compare to witnessing it live just a few feet away from you. This is a play that will amaze theatre lovers and bring in new theatre fans with first time viewers. Take a break from the traditional holiday events and step inside the sadistic mind of a genius author for the ride of the year. Back to top  A claustrophobic, killer tale. * * * * stars By Kris Vire, Time Out Chicago Three years after its Chicago debut in a blistering Steppenwolf production, McDonagh’s dark-humored fable reappears in a very different setting. Director Senior and designers Anders Jacobson and Judy Radovsky smartly reconfigure Redtwist’s storefront space to ratchet up the intensity—not that McDonagh’s 2003 script needs ratcheting. We’re placed in the interrogation room where two detectives, representatives of an unnamed totalitarian state, are grilling Katurian, a writer of 400 short stories (all but one unpublished). Katurian’s oeuvre boils down, as one of the cops puts it, to “101 ways to skewer a five-year-old.” When area children start turning up dead in ways that mimic the stories, Katurian and his brain-damaged brother, Michal, are hauled in. While we’re in spittle distance of this real-world action, we’re kept at a remove from Katurian’s stories, which, acted out in chilling human dioramas at each end of the room, provide clues to the brothers’ own childhood traumas. McDonagh’s play, like one of Katurian’s proudest creations, is a puzzle without a solution: a cerebral, uncomfortably funny examination of storytelling and its uses that, unlike Grimm tales, provides no moral or cautionary lesson. Senior’s well-acted production doesn’t try to impose one. Jessop is terrific (if slightly too young) as the willfully blank Katurian, while Hickey’s perfectly sardonic as the good cop to the rage-filled bad cop (Garcia, pushing a bit too hard for the room). They do exactly what Katurian hopes for: They tell a good, harrowing tale, and they tell it well. Back to top  by Robert Bullen, EDGE Contributor Published Thursday Dec 10, 2009 "To do white hot drama, in a tiny black box, with a little red twist." That’s Redtwist theatre’s tagline, and they are boldly demonstrating it in their intense production of Martin McDonagh’s The Pillowman. Without revealing too much, the story focuses on an author named Katurian (a deeply compelling, if slightly too young, Andrew Jessop) who is undergoing a brutal interrogation regarding the content of his sadistic short stories and their eerie similarities to the bizarre and gruesome deaths of local children. Two policemen, Tom Hickey as the "good cop" and Johnny Garcia as the "bad cop," are dead set on pressuring Katurian and his highly impressionable younger brother (Peter Oyloe, doing quite well with a very difficult role) to admit their guilt. The drama is "white hot," indeed. McDonagh’s play maintains perpetual unbalance. Just when you start to feel a faint sense of familiarity, he rips the rug out from under you with a brutal plot discovery, a deeply sadistic scene, or an emotional unveiling. And, in this compact staging (more on that soon), the looks of the stunned audience members across from you seem to say, "is it okay to laugh? Or gasp?" Uncertainty is the name of the game here. Director Kimberly Senior’s staging redefines "tiny black box." She has set the primary action in an interrogation room, with seating lining both sides of the confining space. Tears and blood are shed, at times, only inches from you. Don’t be surprised if you find yourself tucking your legs under your chair to ensure you don’t disturb the intense action playing out, quite literally, at your feet. Two key short stories of Katurian’s are play-acted, in a highly-stylized panoramic tone, behind curtains to the left and right sides of the interrogation space. It’s a creepy, unexpected effect that, again, throws you off balance and resets your expectations. One of the more disquieting scenes features Marissa Meo, an honor roll sixth-grader, who undergoes some disturbing onstage brutality. As for "the little red twist"? There’s more than enough fake blood in this production to make you pity the backstage crew’s cleanup detail at the end of each performance. (If you haven’t caught on by now, this show is not intended for young audience members or those who are uncomfortable with authentically staged violence and/or gun shots.) However, aside from impressive gore, fight scenes and intimate seating, the driving force of this show is the theme of "storytelling," and Senior keeps things clear and focused in this regard. As we were taught in debate class, a well-crafted story is always more compelling than facts or figures, and each character in this play recognizes this power - though they aren’t quite prepared for the resulted impact. Redtwist has delivered a carefully measured and highly engrossing production that’s not afraid to explore the darker sides of human nature. Here’s to hoping the pillowman doesn’t come looking for you. Back to top  white-knuckled presentation Reviewed by Heather Hoffman Often theatergoers fight to find a spot as close to the action as possible, but few theatres provide as intimate a seat as Chicago’s Redtwist Theatre, whose production of Martin McDonagh’s The Pillowman transports the audience from observer to participant. The black box theatre’s nearly claustrophobic space shrouds the audience in the unease and anticipation faced by its main character Katurian (Andrew Jessop), who is suspected of several recent child murders that mimic stories he has written. His lengthy interrogation plays out as more movie than play, where each facial expression is as important as each line and the proximity to the violence onstage is unsettling, yet impossible to turn away from. Choosing to cast a young actor plays to the youthful naïveté of Katurian, who can at times appear foolish in his pleas to save his stories, some of which are performed in mime-like fashion on the sides of the stage. One story includes a memorable performance by the young Marissa Meo who plays out a particularly violent story with childlike jocundity. Many of these dark tales are read by Katurian to his brain-damaged brother Michal as they await their grim fates. Peter Olyoe plays the childish character well in physical expression and tone. Michal serves more as a springboard for Katurian’s reactions and reasoning than a fully developed character, and at times the connection between the two brothers does not feel complete, but the two actors effectively handle the progression of the scenes from tender to chilling. Generating the bulk of the audience’s anxiety are totalitarian police detectives Tupolski and Ariel, who switch between taunting Katurian and quarreling with each other. Teasing the notion of good cop/bad cop, they swing between repulsion and pity, yet never fully acquire the audience’s support. Tupolski, played by Tom Hickey, appears egotistical and unforgiving but provides the bulk of levity, which is both welcome and questionable amid such disturbing subject matter. Ariel, reactive and even less forgiving, is convincingly brought to life by Johnny Garcia. The actors’ unique and believable personas play skillfully at the tension between them. While the topic is heavy, McDonagh’s light and conversational writing speeds the play along. Characters interrupt each other, stutter and repeat each other’s sentences. A lack of lengthy monologues ensures realistic dialogue, making the audience feel less like they’re watching a play and more like witnessing an interrogation from a two-way mirror. The stark set begins at the audience’s feet, and the slamming of drawers and banging of chairs makes Katurian’s terror tangible. The lighting is at a bare minimum, except during the staging of his stories, which play out as morbid fairytales in bright lights and vivid colors. The desolate staging is perfect for ensuring that the audience is never distracted from the raw story they are watching unfold. For in the end, The Pillowman is about storytelling. The small interludes of Katurian’s stories are sure to stick with the audience, for they are not only the blackest of black humor, but also terribly clever. The larger arc of the play also includes the dark accounts of violence that affect all four of the main characters. Each man has his own story to tell, and the audience, like a jury, must decide whom, if any, to cast their sympathy. Director Kimberly Senior’s white-knuckled presentation personifies the play’s notion that storytelling serves as much to challenge as to entertain. The play leaves the audience questioning their reactions, while the in-your-face staging leaves hearts pounding and palms sweating. Redtwist’s stimulating presentation proves they are a theater willing to take risks with their audience. If The Pillowman serves as an indication, the remainder of their season, including productions Equus and Incident at Vichy, will not disappoint. Back to top  The
Pillowman should not be missedBy Venus Zarris For years, I have had ongoing conversations with many people about the possibility of being genuinely terrified while watching a play. Although in so many ways, theater connects on a more immediate and living/breathing level than film, the suspension of disbelief sits on top of the reality that we are watching people playing parts. No matter how well the parts are played you believe that they, and you yourself, are safe because unlike in a film where you can loose yourself in the notion that this is really happening somewhere else, in the theatre you inhabit the same physical location as the actors. There may be an unexpected jump or a wonderfully evocative atmosphere, but at the end you know that there will be a curtain call and everyone will happily go back to the real world. So what would it take to pull you far enough away from that reality of your actual location? In the case of Martin McDonagh’s award-winning script, it is the storytelling, both theatrical and literal, that sweeps you away to terrifyingly dark possibilities. Theater is storytelling and The Pillowman establishes McDonagh as a grand master of the darkest recesses of imaginary malevolence. He takes us to places that we dare not dream, because if our nightmares resembled anything like these stories we would be living on enough trucker speed to ensure a sleepless existence. The play opens with Katurian blindfolded, sitting at a table under one hanging light. Tupolski, the first interrogator, enters the room. We are as in the dark as Katurian seems to be about the nature of his arrest, but as the layers are peeled off of this relentless situation the mounting indictments are staggering. Unlike the popular trend of horror films that highlight acts of atrocity as main events with little to no psychological or emotional dissection or depth, The Pillowman is not spectacle brutality but rather a roller coaster ride that plunges into the core of the unconscionable with only a bit of actual physical displays of violence, much of which is stylized rather than realistic. The implied is almost always more shocking than the displayed and McDonagh’s implications are viscerally overwhelming. One cannot wax darkly poetic enough about the parameter stretching effects of this brutally beguiling script. It is simply put, a macabre masterpiece of the mind bogglingly morbid and morose. Story after story we are ravaged by a spellbindingly sinister imagination. Still, McDonagh manages to extract dark humor, at times laugh-out-loud funny, that provides brief but generous relief from the crushing bleakness. The circumstances are so diabolically grave that you almost feel compliant while laughing. The welcome humor makes you, in part, party to the madness that you are simultaneously repulsed by. Director Kimberly Senior takes this huge literary undertaking and scales it into a tiny black box to chilling effect. The interrogation happens quite literally in your lap and the staged stories happen on both sides of the seating area. Thanks to scenic designers Anders Jacobson and Judy Radovsky, the presentational stories and the representational reality of the play are visualized with striking and incredible contrast. Christopher Kriz’s original music and sound design add both authenticity to the representation and sinister atmosphere to the presentation. ...Tom Hickey is subtly remarkable as Tupolski. The sophistication that he brings to his performance allows a natural restraint as the ‘good cop’ that proves disturbingly threatening. Calm, calculated, glib and sparingly harsh, he is in control of an out-of-control situation. Peter Oyloe is charmingly vulnerable as the sweetly simple minded Michal. Our connection to his childlike nature makes the twisted epiphanies of his story all the more devastating. ...This production is strong enough to more than warrant your time and for the sake of experiencing one of the most remarkably challenging and darkly imaginative scripts you will ever see; Redtwist Theatre’s The Pillowman should not be missed. Back to top  Small and Intimate Make Theatre Better Article in PerformInk, By Nina Metz, Dec 29, 2009 Theatre is meant to be an intimate experience, and 2009 offered some compelling evidence of how size and scale can affect a show. Let’s say this up front: larger, plusher venues have their perks. But they also have a way of diluting immediacy. The Steppenwolf and Goodman may be downright cozy compared to the Oriental, and yet all but the most compact fringe venues are predicated on a physical distance between actors and audience: You’re over there, we’re over here. The main casualty of this in 2009 was Charles Newell’s problematic staging of The Wild Duck for Court Theatre at the cavernous MCA—a nice space certainly, but one that feels like a parking garage all the same. Tina Landau’s fussy, throw-everything-at-the-wall interpretation of The Tempest for the Steppenwolf also suffered from a serious case of too-muchness. The shows I responded to this year understood that they were small, and used this quality to their advantage, including Kimberly Senior’s out-of-the-ordinary staging of The Pillowman at Redtwist (extended through February.) Her methodology—keep things up-close and personal—is a bold choice that turns the theatre’s lack of space into its biggest asset. She didn’t need a lot of money to do it, either. (2009 was the year of Kimberly Senior, by the way, with stellar productions of Cherry Orchard at Strawdog and All My Sons for Timeline, as well.) Back to top http://www.fromtheledge.com/theater/no-easy-answers At intermission during the superb Redtwist Theater production of Martin McDonagh’s brilliant, intricate The Pillowman, I overheard the two women of a certain age sitting beside me in the cramped theater smugly, disgustedly ask each other: “Who can you recommend this play to?” In fairness, before coming to the theater, they might have been hunched over the whole day cutting-out reindeer cookies while wearing their snug wool sweaters with Frosty the Snowman embroidery on them, singing along to their Perry Como holiday CDs, tasks and outfits that tend to cut oxygen to the brain, but…I shot them the patented withering look nonetheless. Who do you recommend The Pillowman to - one of the most riveting, most provocative, most smartly-written and surprising scripts of the past decade? Well, people who embrace the power of great theater, for one. Folks with cultural taste more sophisticated than theirs, for another. When I saw the play’s Chicago premiere a couple of years ago in a heartbeat-stopping Steppenwolf production, directed by a pre-Tony nomination Amy Morton, starring a pre-Pulitzer prize Tracy Letts and a pre-Oscar nomination Michael Shannon, I didn’t think this play could be improved. It was a great play, period. But in Redtwist’s production, creatively staged by director Kimberly Senior in a suffocating, sometimes malevolent, ultimately affecting manner, the impact of the play’s theme of the power and legacy of storytelling comes through wondrously. It’s definitely one of the best Chicago productions for 2009. The Pillowman is about a writer named Katurian Katurian, who, in an unidentified police state, is being interrogated by two police officers after a series of child murders occur that suspiciously mimic the killing methods in his grisly stories. And McDonagh, one of the most original, inventive, and darkly comic playwrights working today, piles on the grisly and the gory, with murders, both of children and adults, meticulously, horrifically detailed. But beyond that, McDonagh also, more importantly, writes brilliant, multi-layered scenes full of blistering dialogue that demonstrates how we weave so many stories about ourselves and our lives that we sometimes can’t distinguish, and follow, the thread of the genuine, authentic narratives versus the made-up-to-make-ourselves-feel-better ones. Katurian may be the literal story-teller, but the two cops tell their stories as well, conveying that how they see themselves (Ariel, “the bad cop”, as righteous, and Tupolski, “the good cop”, as clever) may not be truly what or who they are. And his words are brought to vivid, searing life by Redtwist’s pitch-perfect cast: Andrew Jessop’s Katurian, cluelessly self-important and genuinely sympathetic at the same time, and Tom Hickey’s smooth operator Tupolski, are particularly dazzling. But it’s Peter Oyloe, one of the most promising young actors working in Chicago theater currently, as Michal, Katurian’s mentally-impaired brother who admits to committing the murders, admittedly the showiest role in the play (which Shannon, garnering a Jeff nomination, magnificently played in the Steppenwolf production), who leaves the most indelible mark. It’s a pretty tricky role to play, since the character’s admitted actions are repellent, but he is mentally-disturbed, and he performed the actions mostly because of the impact that his brother’s stories has had on him. It’s the undeniable influence of the master storyteller (which is harnessed daily in politics, in mass media, in arts and culture) - he or she can move ordinary mortals to believe in, and sometimes do, extraordinary things, for better or for worse. Oyloe, through delicately-calibrated emotional responses, makes us care for and identify with Michal, which makes how he eventually ends up, shattering. I think it’s a much more physically-detailed performance than Shannon’s as well, with Oyloe’s fingers and limbs looking like they’re slightly bent and deformed, Elephant Man-like, the probable effect of seven years of violence at the hands of his and Katurian’s parents. But director Kimberly Senior’s staging, immensely helped by the design of scenic designers Anders Jacobson and Judy Radovsky, is the one element that moves Redtwist’s production from mere memorable to truly brilliant. The theater is small and cramped with the audience sitting, runaway style, on two sides of a very narrow performing space, in literal spitting and sweat bead distance from the actors. The interrogation scenes, therefore, lighted by designer Christopher Burpee with single overhead light fixtures or muted spotlights, feel extremely claustrophobic, sometimes dreamily somber, like a storefont Wellesian nightmare, with Jessop’s fear or Hickey’s iciness in stark relief. The staging is genius, as well, with a different effect, though, in the scene between Jessop and Oyloe in the prison cell, where the brothers’ intimacy is beautifully, sometimes voyeuristically presented (and it helps that the two actors have great chemistry together, definitely fraternal but also subtly homoerotic, a crazy subtext that McDonagh may not have intended, but could add layers to an already complicated text). The stylized presentations of the murders are performed at the sides of the playing space in compact, moveable sets, which gives the audience the distance necessary to sit through the horror. The one nitpick I had with the Steppenwolf production was that these scenes were played out in huge, Punch and Judy-type sets, which dwarfed the action and its impact on the audience, but there is no such problem in the way Senior conceptualized these scenes here. A lot of people like their theater straight-up, uncomplicated, simple-to-follow, and I’m sure they’re not going to love The Pillowman, despite how creative or original it is staged. The subject matter will just be a turn off. But for those of us who are often seeking the ineffable, impalpable, evanescent magic of live theatrical performance, this Redtwist production of a complex play that doesn’t give the audience any easy answers, is the real deal. Go see it now! Back to top http://sethsaith.blogspot.com/2010/01/pillowman-at-redtwist-storied.html Friday, January 22, 2010 The Pillowman at Redtwist: A Storied Production The Pillowman Redtwist Theatre, Chicago @@@@@ Absolutely phenomenal Beyond being an outstanding, intimate production of an excellent play, Redtwist Theatre's rendition of Martin McDonagh's The Pillowman is a powerful reminder of the amazing depth of Chicago's theatre scene. While I very much enjoy the touring Broadway shows that come to town and many fine productions done at Goodman and Steppenwolf (their current version of American Buffalo is superb), there are literally dozens of storefront or smaller-sized theater companies all around town--and even into the suburbs--at which I have seen wonderful work. Redtwist's rendition of McDonagh's highly acclaimed 2003 play about a storyteller under investigation for grisly murders that resemble his prose, directed by Kimberly Senior, is a shining example. As is routinely the case at Chicago's myriad storefront stages, excellent performances abound from actors who I hadn't previously seen or heard of, led by Andrew Jessop and Peter Oyloe. At 2-1/2 hours, The Pillowman is a bit long (especially Act I), but always engaging. And while its subject matter is rather disturbing, at times it is laugh out loud funny. I had seen it once before, in 2006 at Steppenwolf with a first-rate cast, and had loved it then. But Senior's ability to reinterpret it in a room less than 10' in depth, shared by the actors and all 30 audience members (this was a full house; the show has been extended into March), was truly remarkable. Having last year seen McDonagh's The Lieutenant of Inishmore, as well as his movie, In Bruges, I believe the Irish playwright (and now screenwriter/director) is one of the best--if not the best-- working today. I'd like to see any of his other highly praised plays and look forward to 2010's A Behanding in Spokane. Although I don't know how concerned I should be that, according to the Wikipedia article on The Pillowman, what seemed like a completely original work is in fact largely similar (if not derivative of) to a 1991 movie called Closet Land. But I have to imagine this was known even back in 2004-05 when The Pillowman was named Best Play in England and was nominated for a Tony. Regardless, especially for prices as low as $22, Redtwist's remarkable production shouldn't be missed and is one you won't soon forget. Back to top http://thekidsgotmoxie.wordpress.com/ I feel that a part of my theatrical education has been completed now that I’ve seen – for the first time - a production of The Pillowman. Though I’ve certainly been hearing about it for years, and even know some friends who’ve done versions of the play, and knew Jeff Goldblum was in the original Broadway cast, it wasn’t until yesterday’s 3pm matinee at Redtwist I’d never read or seen this thrilling piece of theatre. I’d also never set foot in Redtwist theatre before, and I feel like I may have been missing out. This is an exciting company. The story is this: Katurian, a writer, is being interrogated by two policemen – Tupolski and Ariel – regarding the similarities between the short stories he’s written and the deaths of small children. Katurian maintains his innocence, though the policemen are quite clear he’s going to be executed soon, and so he fights for the preservation of his stories. In the next room, the policemen are detaining Katurian’s brother, Michal. Over the course of 2.5 hours, your perceptions of what happened are twisted several times and gruesome but surprising details emerge. McDonagh keeps his writing brisk and conversational, and there’s never an overwrought moment or a dull section. Cheers to director Kimberly Senior and the Redtwist theatre folks for choosing to bring a piece this bold to their stage, for delivering such a fantastic production, and for utilizing their small space in such an intense way. The main portion of the play happens in an interrogation room, and Senior’s staging puts the action literally within reach of the audience. (I had to move my feet to make sure I didn’t kick an actor in the head during a moment of brawling on the floor.) Framing the play are story-scenes, and those happen in two areas to either side of the room, which keeps you wondering whats going to happen next and where it’s coming from. Also, applause must be given to this hard-working cast. Andrew Jessop might be a tad too young to play Katurian, but his performance is riveting and emotional. Though you’re never 100% sure if he did or didn’t do it until the very end, he’s charsmatic and you care about him. As Michael, probably the show’s most challenging role, Peter Oyloe resembles James Franco and turns in an astonishing performance. Both of these actors are worth keeping an eye on. Tom Hickey and Johnny Garcia are the good cop and bad cop in charge of Katurian’s investigation, and both are clearly having a great time playing their roles. Hickey in particular is a scene-stealer, especially in the second act when he weaves his own story about a deaf Chinese boy and an oncoming train. I must also point out the excellent work of Christoper Kriz, credited with Original Music and Sound Design. Kriz keeps an eerie drone underscoring the entire show, whether it’s just a water drip or a soft hum coming from somewhere undetermined, and the effect is very unsettling. If you’ve never seen The Pillowman, you’re missing out. Redtwist’s production is excellent, and I’d go see it again. Back to top http://ramblingsofg1000.blogspot.com/ Sunday, February 28, 2010 Play Review - "The Pillowman" at Redtwist Theatre This is one of those shows that defines "in your face" theatre. Redtwist Theatre's production of Martin McDonagh's "The Pillowman" is a play that gets under your skin and stays there. Which makes the confined space of the Redtwist ideal. Entering the theatre, I wasn't even sure I was in the right place. I'd heard how intimate the venue was, but here were a few dozen chairs placed around a small table. It is at this small table that most of the action takes place. Katurian Katurian (Andrew Jessop) is being interrogated over a series of child killings that closely mirror the murders in his short stories. What emerges is a grim tale of a man, his brain-damaged brother, and two cops. Though "The Pillowman" may at first seem to be a standard "whodunit", it quickly becomes much more. It's a story about storytelling, and also of the effects parental abuse can have years later. Interspersed with the action in the interrigation room are several of Katurian's stories, which vary from the merely violent to the truly horrifying. You wouldn't expect this play to be funny, but it often is. Much of the humor is provided by the two cops (one of whom is an aspiring storyteller himself). Matthew Krause and Johnny Garcia play off of each other brilliantly in their "good cop, bad cop" routine. But it's Peter Oyloe who really steals the show as the mentally impaired Michal. He's only in two scenes, but in his extended sequence with Jessop he makes Michal into a fully dimensional, sympathetic character. The staging is the key, though. Everything happens a few feet from your eyes, making the intensity of the play even more spellbinding. Warning: one moment with a gunshot will have your ears ringing. Cover them, or else bring earplugs. You literally may have to tuck your feet in in order to avoid tripping the actors as they move in and out of the action. And "The Pillowman" is the type of play where this closeness helps. Now that I've seen it like this, I don't think any other production could ever compare. Grade A Back to top http://www.donhall.blogspot.com/2010/04/theater-review-pillowman.html Monday, April 05, 2010 Review by Don Hall Disclosure: I was comp'd to this production - I was out of dough, so I'm mailing the Redtwist folks a check this weekend... It's no news that Redtwist's production of The Pillowman is critically acclaimed and lauded by pretty much everyone. For reasons I can't really explain, I haven't been moved by any of it and haven't really read that much about the show although a couple of notable Chicago critics personally emailed me throughout the run recommending it to me, assessing it was exactly the kind of thing I would dig. I'm also a pretty consistent fan of Senior's work and love that dark, psychologically twisted shit more than most, so it turns out that a timely invite from producer Michael Colucci got me to drag my tired ass over to Bryn Mawr and check it out. I'm really glad I did. For any theatrical production to succeed, a few key ingredients need to be in place and, like the flawed model of Jeff Awards consideration, you can get away with some of those elements in the recipe being less than up to snuff if certain others are incredible. With The Pillowman, every piece of this souffle is dead-on, almost fantastically, excellent. Like very few storefront productions, this one adds up to being a near perfect theater-going experience for me. McDonagh's script gives us Katurian Katurian, a writer of short stories in a police state, who is brought into an interrogation room because children are being murdered in the same fashion as the children in his bizarre fairy tale/fables - forced to eat razor blade embedded dolls carved from apples (from the story "The Little Apple Men"), toes cut off (from the story "The Tale of the Town on the River") and perhaps even beaten, crucified and buried (from the story "The Little Jesus"). Along the road, we meet the Good Cop/Bad Cop pairing of Tupolsky and Ariel and Katurian's brain damaged brother Michal as the evidence mounts and the stories are told and other stories reveal and distort more of the narrative and we are left with a singularly sick and despairing feeling in our gut. Examining the power of our stories and their affects on our own self perception as well as the real world consequences of telling stories, McDonagh takes us down a dark rabbit hole and places stories within stories and, the best thing about them is that these are stories that amaze and repulse, obfuscate and reveal. Filled with repetition and imagery that borders on the perverse, McDonagh has crafted a brilliantly dark satire with some of the most crisp and pointed dialogue I've heard. Like Mamet without the mannerisms or LaBute if he was more poetic, McDonagh has a real flair for defining little moments that slowly add up and dropping hints in the ways characters speak to each other that left me enthralled. It helps that the actors inhabiting this twisted fucking play and saying the words on the page are uniformly fantastic. Matthew Krause and Johnny Garcia are just plain fun and menacing as Tupolsky (the Brains) and Ariel (the Brawn) and the wordplay and tactics used to coerce Katurian's confession(s) are Pinteresque without the pauses. And, frankly, I'd watch Krause read a soup can label - this guy is just amazing. Peter Oyloe is equally tragic and hysterical as the brother Michal, riding the line between allowing us to sympathize and laugh at and laugh with his child-man reminiscent of Lenny in Of Mice and Men with a fixation on his brother's stories rather than rabbits. With support like Krause, Garcia and Oyloe, it bodes well that Andrew Jessop is flat out "Ed Norton in Primal Fear" fucking good. The role is demanding and Jessop runs the gamut from genuinely confused fear to impotent rage to heartbroken sadness in split seconds. Given that it is his story we're experiencing it's a good thing that he's so fun to watch go through it. From the subtly shifting single overhead lamp to the strange distressed file cabinet of horrors to the well-placed and superbly designed "alternative" worlds hidden from view and then exposed to great effect, this production looks great. The production team has done a remarkable job of turning the quirky Redtwist space into a dungeon open to flights of colorful fancy and slowly realized terror. The master chef of this hard to digest fable is Senior. Her use of intimacy in the space to a point that most directors would be fearful of the blowback from more conservative audience members (I sat a mere three feet from the main action and almost got my knees nailed several times - at one point at the close of the first act, I wanted to reach out and grab Jessop and just say "Stop. Please.") is, while not revolutionary, exceptionally cool. Her work with the actors is evident (performances this good don't just happen) and the orchestration of the evening is transporting. This is a must-see show. It's a nearly perfect Off Loop storefront experience and demonstrates how good the tiny spaces in Chicago can be if the time is taken to find an extraordinary script, a fabulous cast, an inventive design team and a fantastic, visionary director. Back to top |
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