The Pillowman

I’ve been to a lot of great plays. Hamlet, A Doll’s House, Uncle Vanya, Doubt. But my very favourite play is one I’ve never seen performed, but only read: The Pillowman, by Martin McDonagh.

The plot: A writer has been arrested, and he doesn’t know why. Nor does he have much time to figure it out, since the police interrogating him are corrupt, and will stop at nothing to get to the answers they’re looking for.

You can tell a book is good when it provokes a physical reaction, such as goosebumps or tears. But The Pillowman is perhaps the only thing I’ve ever read that has actually made me scream out loud (much to the alarm of the person who happpened to be sitting next to me). It also made me laugh quite a lot, as you’d expect from the writer of In Bruges.

I’ve had two strokes of luck. Firstly, a performance of The Pillowman is coming to Melbourne. Secondly, the star is my favourite actor. You may know him as the original inspiration for Agent Six of Hearts. You will have seen him on the cover of Third Transmission. I know him as my very own brother, Tom Heath.

Venetia and I are going to the play on Saturday the 26^th of March. I mention this because my web statistics indicate that I have more readers in Melbourne than any other city in the world, and I thought you might like to join us.

Disclaimer: this play may be funny, but it’s also bloody scary. If you can’t handle course language, implied violence, regular violence, or a giant time-travelling murderer made out of pillows (seriously) then don’t come. Sit at home and re-think your life.

When: Thurs 24 - Sat 26 March & Tues 29 March - Sat 2 April, 8pm
Where: MUST Theatre Space, Campus Centre, BLG 10 Monash University, CLAYTON
Tickets: $10 MSA Card / $12.50 Conc. / $16 Full
Bookings: 9905 8173

I probably don’t need to mention that this play is unsuitable for small children, but I just did. And just in case you need more convincing, here is what comes up when you Google Image search “Pillowman Monash”:

See you there.