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The Pillowman

4.45 of 5 stars 4.45 · rating details · 3,295 ratings · 229 reviews

While still in his twenties, the Anglo-Irish playwright Martin McDonagh has filled houses in New York and London, been showered with the theatre world's most prestigious accolades, and electrified audiences with his cunningly crafted and outrageous tragicomedies. With echoes of Stoppard and Kafka, his latest drama, The Pillowman, is the viciously funny and seriously distur...more

Paperback, 104 pages

Published September 1st 2004 by Faber & Faber (first published 2003)

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Apr 08, 2012 Ben Loory rated it 5 of 5 stars

had a bit of a paranoid break in the middle where i began to suspect it was the story of my life... pretty sure that's not the case but it gets 5 stars for seriously rocking the boat.

3 likes · like · see review

Jul 23, 2009 Iris rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Recommended to Iris by: my neighbor (who is perplexed by her fixation on this play)

Shelves: drama

This play - first performed in London in 2003 - is a devastating experiment. I would especially recommend it to reluctant readers. Though a veteran reader will pore over it in two or three sittings, the themes of the play sink in slowly and subtly. It encourages a reader to imagine alternate explanations for horrific events, and seek ways out of irrevocable situations.

To write more about "The Pillowman" is to give away surprises and twists in in the plot and the storytelling. Better to see for...more

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Jun 15, 2008 Amanda rated it 5 of 5 stars

Shelves: plays, school

As an occasional theatre snob, I know that many plays are better seen than read. The Pillowman was not one of these, and had such an impact on me when I read it, that it stands alone as a piece of literature. (I hope to see it on stage soon)

I was so horrified and delighted by the events. The words toy with the reader's emotions, and made me feel terrible that I was enjoying it. The dark, twisted tales were varied, and well spaced throughout the play. My favorite being the sad tale of who the Pi...more

2 likes · like · see review

Aug 05, 2007 Mike rated it 5 of 5 stars

I just re-read this, in preparation for teaching it, and--damn--it's good. I first read the play upon its initial run in England, and yet I find now--with the subsequent foreground of torture into our political discussions--the play engages on even more cylinders.

A key thing--to toss to Gio?--is that McDonagh, here and in most of his work, resists or confounds identification. The poles of this play's conflict are between totalitarian interrogators and a writer of repugnant, vicious material. It'...more

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Sep 22, 2011 Patrick McCoy rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: plays, contemporary-fiction

I think Martin McDonagh is probably the most interesting playwright in contemporary theater. He is now most primarily known for his excellent film In Bruges. I previously read The Beauty Queen of Leenane And Other Plays. The Pillowman gained a lot of attention in 2005 when it opened on Broadway. I finally got a copy of it and read it. I think two defining traits of McDonagh are his excellent dialogue and violence. It is a black comedy, like much of his work that focuses on life and art, fact and...more

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Mar 16, 2009 Jackie rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: fantasy-scifi-and-other-oddities, irish-goodness-and-angst, mystery-suspense-and-noir, plays

Martin McDonagh makes me laugh at the most disturbing things. He really illuminates the degree of twistedness people posses.
What makes this play so great is that it toys with our expectations. Is Tupolski really the good cop and is Ariel really the bad one? Is Michal a sympathetic character? Is the third victim even dead?
This play is effing fantastic. I only wish I could have seen it on Broadway with Billy Crudup and Jeff Goldblum, or in London with David Tennant and Jim Broadbent. I'm convince...more

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Feb 20, 2013 Chloe rated it 4 of 5 stars

I saw this performed at a university in Melbourne and, to use a somewhat cliched term, it kept me on the edge of my seat right until the final, horrifying moments.
The play forced me to keep engaged and actively trying to figure out where and when the play is taking place, whose side we're meant to be on and what they'll do next.
There are several Earth-shattering moments, when I was thinking "oh that will never happen...oh MAN THEY JUST DID IT!" These moments were shocking in that, as an audien...more

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Oct 22, 2012 John Spillane rated it 5 of 5 stars

Shelves: favorites

This is my favorite thing that I've ever read.

Maybe I just ruined it for you, but seeing how, like many great things it succeeds on multiple levels, at least three; I don't think I did. How something can be so incredible and fly under my radar for so long is one of the things that would keep me up at night if anything could. The "In Bruges" writer/director gives large doses of the only two qualities I want: wit and profundity. The dialogue is superb, but even it takes a back seat to the overall...more

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Nov 07, 2011 Guillermo rated it 5 of 5 stars

"The first duty of a storyteller is to tell a story." Katurian is confused. Perhaps it's, "The only duty of a storyteller is to tell a story." Can it be both? Do stories hold more than what they offer? Ever talk to an English major? Ever ask the same question to someone in the math department? The answers will vary. Is it up to the writer to leave messages, reasons, symbols, explanations, statements, philosophies, etc. within his stories? Or is it solely the reader's duty to find the scripture?...more

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Feb 27, 2011 Rosie Gaunt rated it 5 of 5 stars

To say that one thoroughly enjoyed a play which involves child-abuse, torture, and infanticide (including crucification) may seem like I am completely disturbed. In truth Martin McDonagh's play The Pillowman is hugely disturbing, however, without a doubt it is an astounding play; soaring in scope and subject, and done up with the expected McDonagh dollop of black humour. Set in a totalitarian state, but one where literature is not censored, it addresses the worth of literature, its relationship...more

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Nov 20, 2010 Rick rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: drama

Two police detectives in a totalitarian state question two brothers, one a writer and one who is, as they say, “backward.” “A little slow,” counters his protective brother. The writer, perhaps in homage to Joseph Heller and his character Major Major Major, who when drafted in the air force is promoted to Major to avoid him being Airman Major Major or Lt. Major Major, has the same three names, Katurian Katurian Katurian. Katurian has no idea why he’s been arrested and is distressed when he discov...more

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Mar 13, 2013 Ali McAvoy rated it 5 of 5 stars

This was a play I had to read for my Exploring Drama literature class that my professor abruptly told us we had to start reading three days before the day it was due. My first reactions were 1) panic, because that meant more homework for me to have to worry myself over in order to finish by the due date and 2) dread, at having to read another whacked out, artistic book that I probably wasn't going to understand or get right off the bat and would have to laboriously toil reading.

Little did I kno...more

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Feb 21, 2013 Heather rated it 4 of 5 stars

So, a friend sent me this play. He and I share a taste for the macabre and existential. It is first and foremost, worth reading. I did enjoy it and read it all in two days, not that it is lengthy. The story follows a short story writer who is being interrogated for crimes that mimic his books. The story has several twists and turns and two or three times I thought I predicted the path it was going to take, only to be wrong. My only complaint is that I did not care for the ending. It reminded of...more

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Jan 23, 2010 unnarrator rated it 4 of 5 stars

Recommended to unnarrator by: AB

Maybe I'll sleep again someday...but seriously. Really, really, piercingly smart. funny, ghastly, and lovely. And ghastly. Did I mention ghastly? Ghastly in that Guy-de-Maupassant-rapes-Kafka kind of way.

(KATURIAN: 'That's a good story. That's something-esque. What kind of "esque" is it? I can't remember. I don't really go in for that "esque" sort of stuff anyway, but there's nothing wrong with that story. Is there?')

Should be four-and-a-half stars, really...and would have been five but for this...more

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Jun 25, 2010 Adam rated it 5 of 5 stars

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here.
Summary:
As New York Times columnist Ben Brantley said of McDonagh’s work here: “comedies don’t come any blacker than ‘The Pillowman.’” The vast majority of the play is set in a police station interrogation room, where a young man is being tortured into admitting to crimes that he did not do. The crimes, all (except two) are against children, and all were actually committed by the main character’s mentally challenged older brother, who was himself tortured and abused as a child by the brothers’ p...more
Summary:
As New York Times columnist Ben Brantley said of McDonagh’s work here: “comedies don’t come any blacker than ‘The Pillowman.’” The vast majority of the play is set in a police station interrogation room, where a young man is being tortured into admitting to crimes that he did not do. The crimes, all (except two) are against children, and all were actually committed by the main character’s mentally challenged older brother, who was himself tortured and abused as a child by the brothers’ parents. The play works as a piece of meta-fiction, telling a story about story-telling and the misperceptions about writers’ and dramatists influence on their readers.

The Good:
As a reader, I absolutely enjoyed all of the many ways which McDonagh played with the idea of writing and the power of written expression & emotion. The plot twist at the end, involving the reality behind the abused brother’s crimes, is fantastic. Also interesting is the idea that true writers can, in their last few dying seconds, completely re-write their life story as their body is shutting down. Because that’s just what writers do. I also enjoyed the two policemen’s hidden back stories, one of which became a bit obvious as the plot wove on, but was still interesting. The impetus behind their actions – behind all actions, really- are well conceived and realistic. What would drive a boy to murder his parents? What would drive a man to torture children? What would drive a writer to develop story-after-story about the death and suicides of little boys and girls? And what would make policemen enjoy abusing their prisoners and sentencing people to death without so much as a lawyer present or a trial offered?

The Bad:
It is difficult not to put something in the “bad” column, because that makes me seem either 1) bias or 2) unable to do my job correctly, that is, comprehensively and objectively. But there is so much to like in this play, and so little to dislike. I suppose one criticism may be that, for a play, it is written much more like a novel. There was very little stage direction, which one comes to expect from a play though, in reality, more dramas are being written without stage direction, leaving this up to the directors’ creativity. Still, it did seem pointed, particularly as I started reading Arthur Miller’s “Death of a Salesman” the day after I finished “The Pillowman” and the difference is conspicuous. Another minor criticism is the denouement with the children. The question is, why would Michal (the “slow” brother) lie about what he did to them? Was he truly that confused – did the stories get jumbled in his head and, therefore, so did his actions toward the children? Or was he trying to write his own story, and using his brother and the policemen as an audience? It is hard to say, but a final resolution here would have been nice (if, perhaps, too clean for such a dark comedy).

The Final Verdict: 4.5 out of 5.0
I truly enjoyed this play, morbid as it may have been. It was like a love-child of Bradbury’s Fahrenheit 451 and Banks’ The Wasp Factory. The examination of effects of literature on human action is always a fascinating on here and, while any direct connection can be dismissed relatively simply, what happens when the readers happen to be mentally underdeveloped or emotionally damaged at the outset? Does this change the impact that literature might have on their actions, based on perception and an inability to keep separate fact from fiction and reality from fantasy? This play also says much, I think about the idea of truly understand literature and all its idiosyncrasies – the way a book can be misread and misunderstood because the reader lacks comprehension in terms of satire, allegory, metaphor, parody, leitmotif, and psychological exploration . It’s a brilliant play, also, because character interaction and monologues are moving and each moment seems to do more to advance the plot.
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Jan 10, 2013 Stephanie Lane Sutton rated it 5 of 5 stars

Shelves: recommendations-of-bookstore-clerk, favorites

Top Book of 2012, #7: “The Pillowman” starts off reminiscent of Kafka and Dostoevsky, with a writer being arrested for a crime he is unaware of committing. Taking place in an unnamed totalitarian country, fiction writer Katurian Katurian writes short stories in secret. One day, he’s arrested and interrogated over the content of his stories, each of which seems to include the death of an innocent child. While Katurian is interrogated, his chilling stories–and his traumatic past–come to light for...more

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Apr 14, 2009 Tortla rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: schooly, plays-and-drama, writing-on-writing

I love this play. And people seem to get offended by how gruesome its stories are, but I just don't see their point. The Pillowman is funny, engrossing, thought-provoking, and kind of optimistic. Maybe my sensibilities have been numbed by over-exposure to Hollywood gore and/or Clive Barker, but I just can't see this as being *offensive.* It's art, goshdarnit. Disturbing, haunting, endearing, bewildering art.

1 like · like · see review

Jan 01, 2011 Potassium rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: plays, dystopia

More of a 3.5 I think.
The play begins with our protagonist Katurian in police custody for questioning but he has no idea why he is there and what he has done wrong. All he knows is that it must have something to do with his stories because he and his stories seem to both be in custody....
Very very very dark play. I liked that Katurian's (and one of the policemen's) stories are woven through the book though all I could think about when I read them was that Katurian's lines must be a pain to memo...more

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Aug 02, 2012 Brian rated it 4 of 5 stars

Martin McDonagh certainly has a way with words. He has a style of writing all his own that makes him instantly recognizable, even though he has cited many influences including Quentin Tarantino and Martin Scorsese. The Pillowman is no exception, with his dark brand of humor and suspenseful storytelling creating a play that will certainly stay with me. Oftentimes I find that a play or screenplay will not resonate with me in the same way as if I were to see it performed. But The Pillowman was cert...more

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Dec 29, 2012 Jamie rated it 5 of 5 stars

Shelves: dramatic-arts

This is a twisted piece of work, but touching and tragic at the same time. Katurian's stories are excellent as is the way each character arcs through the play. I can't imagine being an actor set to memorize and perform this, especially the longer monologues and would have loved to have seen David Tenant in the role of Katurian.

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Jan 18, 2009 Katherine rated it 5 of 5 stars

This was actually a play I had to read for school, but I felt like I was reading a Stephen King novel. It's a dark comedy with REALLY DARK moments. The humor comes from the way the lines are delivered, mostly from the two cops. Those who havew seen DR. WHO and are familiar with the tenth Doctor, David Tennant, will be please to know he has played the lead, Katurian. It takes place in a utilitarian state where Katurian, an author of really grim fariy tale-like stories is being intereigated becaus...more

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Sep 19, 2011 Adam rated it 5 of 5 stars

This play is the most gut renching pieces of literature I have ever read. Being an amateur writer myself, this piece really shows the reader how to pull off such vulgar things in a deeply disturbing sublime way. It's set up in a totalitarian state where literature isn't censored but it is blamed for it's powers on society and people. The writer is blamed for murders that match up with murders in his short stories. The actual stories are interwoven throughout the play and help to add even more de...more

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Jul 24, 2011 Natalie added it · review of another edition

Martin McDonagh is a brilliant writer. I could not put this play down. Creepily bizarre and horribly funny, this absurd play is strangely moving. The play itself is also full of short stories written by the main character, which are also brilliant. I look forward to seeing it on the stage.

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Jan 18, 2009 Wes Young rated it 5 of 5 stars

McDonagh's crowning achievement, bested only by seeing it performed live. McDonagh is a very hot playwrite currently and it is easy to see why upon reading any of his works. Briskly paced, engaging dialogue, strong social commentary, and quirky, sometimes uncomfortable, humor abound.

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Apr 08, 2009 Kira rated it 4 of 5 stars

This darkly comic and brightly tragic play raises the question of author responsibility, and tackles issues of the causes of creativity and artistic censorship, all while delivering a fascinating character study of the remnants of a broken, disturbed family. Highly recommended.

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Jun 20, 2008 Kristina Cole rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

mcdonagh is truly one of the most talented playwrights writing today. pillowman has something for everyone; it's a darkly comic, thought-provoking, character-driven, disturbing show that is equally good on stage and on paper.

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Jul 24, 2009 Richard rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: so-glad-i-read

This is a wonderfully disturbing play. The blurbs on the back accurately cite Kafka and the Brothers Grimm for the elements of an absurdist hell as well as the gruesome and funny elements of children's literature. A writer is pulled into an interrogation for the similarities between his stories and the series of child murders, and from the very getgo we have a discussion of art and its place in the world. But the play takes some wonderful turns in the process while maintaining a claustrophobic f...more

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Dec 12, 2008 Kari rated it 5 of 5 stars

Recommended to Kari by: Cari

Shelves: drama

I don't know which theme was more exciting in this book: interrogation techniques of dictatorships, censorship, or the effects of literature on those who consume it. When I began reading this play I assumed the major theme would be the injustices suffered by the "writer" during his interrogation, and they were horrible. Then the writer become obsessed with the threat that his work will be destroyed. This theme is strong till the end of the play. Then there is the more controversial theme: are wr...more

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Jul 12, 2007 Bob rated it 5 of 5 stars

Shelves: theater-plays

Fantastic play. But very dark, definitely not for kids or people who prefer musicals. Very very dark.

Reminds me a bit of some of Orson Scott Card's short stories, in fact.

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Jun 04, 2013 Ian Green rated it 4 of 5 stars

A play of impossible intensity and complete self-awareness, The Pillowman is an extraordinary roller coaster ride of entertainments. The dialogue is loaded with hilarity, intensity, and amazing story telling. The plot slowly reveals itself, but it never feels like it drags; whenever something new is revealed, it is always a surprise. That being said, the play does slightly suffer from melodrama at times. The wild and crazy dialogue of the dystopian society police can become slightly cheesy in it...more

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About Martin McDonagh

While still in his twenties, the Anglo-Irish playwright Martin McDonagh filled houses in New York and London, was showered with the theatre world's most prestigious accolades, and electrified audiences with his cunningly crafted and outrageous tragicomedies.

More about Martin McDonagh...

Books by Martin McDonagh

The Beauty Queen of Leenane and Other Plays

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