The Pillowman is a captivating, disturbing and darkly comic masterpiece from the pen of Martin McDonagh, a contemporary playwright known for his grotesquely weird and surreal plays. At its centre is Katurian, a writer of short stories much like the ghoulish “fairy tales” of the Grimm Brothers, many of which deal with the gruesome murder of children. Yet the main issue at stake is not the content of the stories but the moral responsibilities of the author and the readers, opening up the wider question of personal and societal responsibility: If you act on something I say, who is responsible?

The Pillowman deals with these issues in a wonderfully subversive way, expertly interweaving horror and high comedy into a spellbinding stunner of a play, its blackness shot through with fierce humanity. The play received its première at the National Theatre in London in 2003 and opened on Broadway in 2005. It has received numerous awards including the 2004 Oliver Award for Best New Play, the 2005 New York Drama Critics' Circle Award for Best New Foreign Play, and two Tony Awards. It has been produced all over the globe and is still widely performed.

Because of the subject matter, the play is not suitable for young people under 16 years of age. An introduction to the play will take place 15 minutes before each performance.

Cast Ayméric d'Herouel, Martin Campion, John Evans, Mike West, Janine Horsburgh, Kim Hermans, Juliet Ostretsova Director Gav Guilfoyle Assistant Director & Stage Manager John Brigg Created at Mierscher Kulturhaus

All public performances are also open for schools. Reservation: T. (+352) 26 32 43 1 M. scolaires@kulturhaus.lu