NEW THEATRE’S ‘THE PILLOWMAN’ dissected by me

Martin McDonagh is probably the master of black comedy for the stage. He beautifully weaves storytelling with highly emotional or socially dysfunctional characters, fantastical events, technical wizardry and all made to seem like the most normal of circumstances under crazy duress. Amongst it all, the text is brilliant and will do much of the work for you if you let it. In fact, you’d have to try very hard to not make his plays work on the stage. The New Theatre do make 'The Pillowman' work but in all honesty, something is missing.

In the spirit of fairness when I saw this show I was doped up on cold and flu tablets, not for the fun of it, I assure you- I was struck down with a cold but time pressures made me feel that keeping my date with the theatre was more important than a date with my bed and that I was well enough to do it justice. But I can declare that I have had better days so you can take what I say in whatever context you’d like.

To me director Luke Rogers has made a couple of slight misjudgements in realising McDonagh’s play. Firstly, it’s in the casting. Not for one moment do I believe Michal (Michael Howlett) is the older brother of our protagonist Katurian (Oliver Wenn) and maybe in real life, there is that age gap between them but on the stage it doesn’t read this way. You might question whether it matters but it is the relationship and history between them that drives younger brother Katurian to save intellectually-challenged older brother Michal by committing acts of violence to protect him. If the relationship seems incredulous, taking that journey is much, much harder and McDonagh’s plays rely on moments of believing what I call ‘truthful absurdity’ (or is that the flu tablet talking?). Compassionate brother Katurian acts out of character in his violence and we need to feel that relationship has integrity in order for us to go with it. 

The other thing that struck me as hindering the flow of the play’s material comes in what feels like a forced energy and rhythm. I imagine when the play is done in Irish accents the pace of the show runs at a speed conducive to the play’s needs. The Australian accents slow it down but are certainly preferable than bad Irish accents. The play felt like it clunked along at times and I’m presuming that may have been part of the problem. There’s also the danger of playing characters with extreme energy and it feels forced and finding the balance between the inquisitiveness of Michal contrasted to the violence he is also capable of committing in that guise is a tough line. If it feels like you’re ‘putting on an act’ I can’t believe the action. It’s tough- granted- but there were times I felt this was a hurdle too big to overcome in this production.

Loren Elstein’s design is quite good. I liked the use of the scrim and division of stage but I couldn’t quite go with the abusive parents in swimming costumes for the ‘Jesus story’.

Amongst that, there was plenty to enjoy too. Oliver Wenn was more than adequate as Katurian. When Wenn got to deliver Katurian’s stories, that was when we most took notice. He delivered them with real ownership and clarity. But it was Peter McAllum as Tupolski who was the definite standout of the show. His ability to show the control of Tupolski and tilt events always to his advantage was masterfully crafted.

This play was enjoyable but not outstanding. If you’ve never seen McDonagh’s work before then do pop along and immerse yourself in a great text. It’s still a cheap night out watching some pretty decent theatre.

POSTSCRIPT:

Thank you to all the people who pointed out my lack of research on the original play in that it is very specifically not written for an Irish voice and thus accent is irrelevant. Consider myself suitably chastised for the oversight on my part. Bad, bad girl. I was trying to account for the problems with rhythm and took a stab at what it might have been from my flu-like state but read some of the reader comments below who most likely account for it much better than I did. And seriously, thank you for writing them. I am not so precious that I can't take criticism. I mean, wouldn't that be ironic?