Years ago, my friend Matt told me that I had to read “The Pillowman” by Martin McDonagh. It took some convincing. Despite being a Drama major, I can rarely just read a play and picture it. “The Pillowman” was an exception. It was vivid. I saw every line pop off the page and into the theater of my mind.
When I saw that there was a production of “The Pillowman” in Queens, I wanted to check it out. Admittedly, before I went in, I had forgotten why I had liked the play, other than appreciating its dark humor, sense of mystery, and general quality of writing.
We begin in a bleak interrogation room, a character sitting onstage with a bag over his head. The plot begins with the bag coming off of a writer’s head as he is interrogated by the police of a totalitarian state.
Story-wise, you’re in for quite a ride. Is the play about censorship? Is it a murder mystery? While certainly disturbing (don’t see the play if you can’t handle descriptive discussion of child murder), it’s also laugh-out-loud funny.
That said, I definitely remember laughing more while reading the play than while watching it. The production itself, while certainly many notches above simply ‘watchable’, never gets beyond its unevenness. In key scenes, the script was done justice, but overall, I was taken in and out of the play on a scene-by-scene basis.
The two major scenes in the play are both done quite successfully, and seem to have gotten the lion’s share of rehearsal and planning. In these scenes, moments are taken and the actors seem to actually be speaking to each other. Luckily, these scenes are the core of the play. Unfortunately, that level of connection and depth doesn’t continue throughout the performance.
In the Broadway version of the play, all of the stories told as soliloquy were acted out by other actors; Variations Theatre Group, the troupe that put it together, uses animation instead, which certainly works as a solid replacement (clearly a cost-cutting measure, but also done with an animated style of disturbing childishness that fits very well, thematically).
The intimacy of a 66-seat theater is a benefit, as it creates a proximity and claustrophobia that emphasizes the prison setting of the piece. The costumes have an air of timelessness that the play is written to have.
As for the not-so-good…
The disparate energies of each actor are off-kilter enough to be jarring, but not enough to seem like a stylistic choice: Deven Anderson’s Tupolski (character: the detective) is the show’s comedic highlight, hitting all his notes and feeling fully realized. Kirk Gostkowski’s Katurian (character: the writer) is all over the place: Is he cocksure and along for the ride? Is he in over his head? After a lot of vacillation, we see a depth and clarity of emotion in the scene before the close of Act I that shows Gostkowski is capable of more, but when we’re back to Act II, it’s a repeat of the same inconstancy as in Act I, with a dose of the same mugging for jokes. Paul Terkel’s Ariel (character: the policeman) is the worst offender, sometimes seeming like the actor was never informed that this is supposed to be a (dark) comedy, screaming at a decibel level far beyond any of the other performances.
The non-natural language of the script is a problem for the actors. If they spat out the lines in a Mamet or Sorkin-style barrage, it’d work, but given that inability, they should have slowed down delivery. While this makes for a slow start, it becomes less of a barrier to enjoyment as the play goes on.
Physicality is also distracting: Kyle Kirkpatrick’s Michal has the stereotypical hand mannerisms that one associates with the mentally disabled. Katurian’s injuries from torture make it so Gostkowski frequently feels the need to hold his side in a showy way.
McDonagh’s script generally shines through even the weakest of moments, with only some relatively minor laughs being stomped on or bypassed. It is not an amateurish performance, but only Anderson seems like he could bring his performance to the big leagues without making a crowd feel cheated. Judging from the program, VTG seems like a tight-knit group; it would probably behoove them to bring in some outside direction to help them get out of their own way.
I am glad I got to see the performance; I just wish that its best moments would have been the consistent standard of the show.
If you haven’t seen “The Pillowman” before and, like me, prefer to see actors acting out plays rather than just reading them, it’s an easy choice – go and check it out before it gets smothered after Sunday.
The Pillowman, directed by Greg Cicchino, runs through Sunday at Chain Theatre – 21-28 45th Rd, Long Island City, Queens, NY.
Subways: 7, E, G, M at the Court Square Station
Showtimes – Friday and Saturday evening at 8pm, with 2pm matinees on Saturdays and Sundays. Tickets are $18 in advance and $20 at the door.
Thanks to the production staff for inviting me to take a gander.