The Pillowman review: Martin McDonagh’s cheeky play explores the boundaries of good taste

The Pillowman at the Lyric Theatre, Belfast until June 15

Jude Quinn as Father, Keith Singleton as Katurian and Rosie McClelland as Mother in The Pillowman. Photo: Melissa Gordon

Katy Hayes

It’s good to see another revival of this intriguing play by Martin McDonagh; its theme of what kind of subject matter is permitted for writers has gained extra edge in the decades since its 2003 premiere at the National Theatre in London.

The play takes place in an unnamed police state, with a vaguely middle European feel. Katurian (Keith Singleton) is a writer; he has written 400 stories, and only one has been published. We meet him in prison, being interrogated by two police officers: bad cop Ariel (Steven Calvert) and less bad cop Tupolski (Abigail McGibbon). It transpires that there have been murders of children in the locality, and the murders follow the gruesome details of some of Katurian’s short stories – a boy has his toes chopped off, a girl dies by eating razor blades.