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Stage

Wickedly funny

Flashes of comedy offer a respite from the shocking violence and brutality of The Pillowman.

By ROBERT HICKS
Published October 12, 2006

Martin McDonagh's The Pillowman has all the gallows humor, gut-wrenching violence and inventive storytelling that theatergoers have come to expect from the young Irish playwright.

The New York Times called it a "spellbinding stunner" when it opened on Broadway last year with Billy Crudup, Jeff Goldblum and Zeljko Ivanek in the cast.

Jobsite Theater premieres the comedy-drama in this area tonight, and it runs through Oct. 29.

McDonagh, 36, is fascinated with how language, art and literature transform life. That theme resonates throughout The Pillowman, about fiction writer Katurian (Steve Garland), police interrogators Tupolski (Matt Lunsford) and Ariel (Ryan McCarthy) and Katurian's childlike, mentally impaired brother Michal (Paul Potenza) in a totalitarian justice system and rocky political landscape.

"There are so many ways you can approach this piece," said David Jenkins, who directs the Jobsite production. "It talks about art, government, fact and illusion, cruelty. All these things."

Jenkins, Jobsite's artistic director, staged a revival of McDonagh's The Beauty Queen of Leenane in 2003, and he is thrilled to return to the playwright's macabre world.

"Katurian has a great line in the show: 'A great man once said, "The first duty of a storyteller is to tell a story." And I believe that wholeheartedly ... Or was it "the only duty of a storyteller is to tell a story"?' That's really where we are in it. I'm really trying to stay out of the way of it and not impose my own agenda on the play."

The Pillowman can be seen as a play about the logical consequences, credibility and socio-political repercussions of storytelling. It can be viewed as a play about fraternal conflict. It also can be seen as a play about child abuse and the loss of childhood innocence. And one can shudder at its dark commentary about the plight of individuals in a totalitarian world.

The play evokes a wide range of emotions, including shock, horror and confusion, but it is also combines magical, childlike tenderness with ghastly, dark humor.

Jenkins likens the method of storytelling to Quentin Tarantino films.

"There's an incredible amount of humor in the show," Jenkins says. "It's jarring. Some of it is pretty out of place. That's part of the shock as well, I suppose. Between the laughs, acts of violence and brutality, some of the stories told within the play are quite shocking. I think the audience is going to attach to some of the humorous parts of the show almost out of necessity."

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The Pillowman, through Oct. 29; 8 p.m. Thursday through Saturday; 4 p.m. Sunday. Shimberg Playhouse at the Tampa Bay Performing Arts Center, 1010 N MacInnes Place, Tampa. $19.50-$24.50. (813) 229-7827; www. jobsitetheater.org.

[Last modified October 11, 2006, 12:02:06]