by Martin McDonagh

Central Iowa Premiere
2004 Laurence Olivier Award for Best New Play
2005 New York Drama Critics’ Circle Award
for Best Foreign Play

Download the poster: The Pillowman Poster (jpg 154kb) poster design by Brent Houzenga

“Petersen grabs the reins and leads
the audience on a rollercoaster ride”
Jared Curtis, Cityview
(full review - adobe pdf)

“Disturbingly intense … this show is not for the faint of heart.”
John Busbee, KFMG 99.1FM Culture Buzz
(full review - adobe pdf)

“The pitch-black play … is as creepy as it sounds.”
Michael Morain, Des Moines Register
(full review - adobe pdf)

Read Juice’s “What I’m Into” article about Craig Petersen

Detectives Ariel (David Oddy) and Tupolski (Chris Alan Ragner) interrogate Katurian (Craig Petersen) over the disturbing similarities of his short stories and recent child murders. (click on image for hi-res quality for printing)

Buy the script on amazon.com:
The Pillowman

Original run

March 12-15 & 19-22, 2009

The cast and crew

Tupolski	Chris Alan Ragner Δ
Katurian	Craig Petersen Δ
Ariel	David Oddy
Michal	Thatcher Williams
Mother	Jami Bassman
Father	Larry Mahlstedt
Girl	Sydney Lundberg Δ
Director	Kristin Larson Δ
ADSM	Laura Lundberg Δ
Lighting Design	Peter Jackel
Scenic Artist	Brent Houzenga Δ

Δ denotes CHANGE debut

About the show

Martin McDonagh cleaves open humanity for us to witness the deepest, darkest parts of its soul in his award-winning black comedy, The Pillowman.

When the line between fiction and fact begins to blur, a writer and his brother are brought in for interrogation about the mysterious deaths of children in an unnamed totalitarian state. The writer, Katurian, has a penchant for gruesome short stories - particularly those that portray violence against children.

Katurian (Craig Petersen) is interrogated by Detectives Ariel (David Oddy) and Tupolski (Chris Alan Ragner) over the disturbing similarities of his short stories and recent child murders. (click on image for hi-res quality for printing)

Recently, the murders of two children have shown eery similarities to his stories. Detectives Tupolski and Ariel believe that one of his stories has been enacted on a third child who is currently missing. It is their duty to use whatever means possible on Katurian and his developmentally challenged brother, Michal, to find out whatever part they may have played in these murders and hopefully find the third child before she dies.

Through shocking and graphic storytelling, Katurian reveals the abuse that developed his disturbed imagination while stunting Michal’s mental and emotional growth. Also told are the stories which are the framework the murderer uses upon the children. How far should the government go in order to find out the truth? At what point is an artist responsible for the action his work inspires? When is enough … enough?
(CHANGE advisory: This play contains disturbing dialogue, situations, and imagery)