The Pillowman at Golden Goose Theatre Review
Written by Bronagh for Theatre and Tonic
Disclaimer: Gifted tickets in exchange for an honest review. All views are our own
What’s better than a theatre with aircon during a London heatwave? A theatre with aircon playing black comedy The Pillowman, written by Martin McDonagh. Despite being a relatively young play, The Pillowman is already a legendary favourite, boasting Jeff Goldblum, Lily Allen and Steve Pemberton as previous cast members. DrED Company’s production at the Golden Goose goes to show that this is one that doesn’t need to be staged in a West End theatre.
We meet Katurian (Ross Barbour) as he is being interrogated by police officers Tupolski (Karim Shohdy) and Ariel (Jack Torres). Katurian’s stories have been discovered, which mirror recent child murders. Rousing suspicions, Katurian takes a good cop bad cop interrogation and threats of execution until he hears that his brother Michal (Taylor Arthurton) has confessed to the murders. If it wasn’t dark already, it’s about to get a whole lot darker.
The acting throughout was both hilarious and dark, striking the right balance without being too over the top on either front. Torres’ performance as tyrannical Ariel was a crowd pleaser, whether he is seen threatening electrocution or showcasing the more vulnerable side toward the end of the show. Ross Barbour’s casting was a great shout, a hugely talented and versatile actor who nails it throughout.
The Pillowman is a whiplash of a show which covers a wide range of themes, ranging from storytelling to abuse to censorship. McDonagh doesn’t shy away from the more violent themes, drawing some very distressing images whilst describing the torture of children. The exploration of storytelling is a key theme and one that I found to be creatively portrayed with the use of shadow puppets, almost giving a fairytale (albeit a very dark fairytale) feel. Before we entered the theatre Production Manager S. Law-Sandell verbally warned the audience of trigger warnings ensuring that everybody was as prepared as possible. This was a great touch, given trigger warnings are usually found via a QR code or on a sheet of paper which isn’t always looked at.
The rest of the set is very sparse, with just a table and chairs doing the leg work. There’s the odd smaller prop, including a file containing Katurian’s stories. Remarkably with the use of these props transports us from an interrogation centre, back to childhood and to the scenes of the murders. This just goes to show that you don’t need elaborate sets to pull off a show. Torres wasn’t only busy playing Ariel, he also acted as lighting designer plunging us into darkness or washing the space in cool tones depending on what’s being conveyed in front of us.
One minor niggle was the timings; the ticket stated that the run time was 19:30 – 20:45 and the website stated it ran for one hour and forty five minutes with a fifteen minute interval. In the end it was approximately two hours. As someone who lives in London this wasn’t particularly an issue and kept me out of the baking London streets but could have had an effect on someone living further out than I do.
This was a great production from a new and exciting company, one that I can see as destined for great things and one that doesn’t need a West End budget to pull off brilliant theatre. The cast captured the humour and horror so well, a very cleverly executed production.
★★★★
