The Pillowman

Dark comedic tragedy The Pillowman, currently showing at Portland Center Stage, is an amazing display of acting, direction and overall quality of production.

The Pillowman has generated worldwide appeal after it won Britain’s prestigious Olivier Award for best play in 2004. Not to be taken lightly, The Pillowman is gruesome and riveting as the story unfolds in two-and-a-half hours of twists and changes that sometimes make your stomach curdle.

The plot begins with a blindfolded actor, sitting in what looks like a dank and dark interrogation room. We learn that this is a writer named Katurian Katurian (played by Cody Nickell) who specializes in tragically ending “once upon a time” fairy tales. Soon a pair of detectives named Tupolsky (played by Sean Cullen) and Ariel (played by James Kennedy) interrogates him concerning the brutal murder of two innocent children.

Tupolsky has a cool, smooth demeanor and attempts to lead Katurian into a self-admission of guilt for the crimes. Ariel, on the other hand, seems to fly off the handle at the drop of a hat. He continually throws Katurian around and brutalizes him for not answering questions. The audience believes Katurian is innocent and that he has done nothing wrong at all.

The police are questioning Katurian because in the gruesome fairy tales he writes he has described exactly how the real children end up meeting their demise. In one of the stories a girl decides to fight back after having been abused extensively by her father. She carves little men out of apples and puts razor blades in them, telling her father not to eat them because they mean so much to her. The father, to spite his daughter, throws half of them down his throat and chokes to death on his own blood. Later that night, however, the apple men come alive and attack the little girl, forcing themselves down her throat for “killing their brothers.” The girl that has been killed in real life was found with razor blades forced down her throat.

Throughout the show the audience is told more of Katurian’s short stories, and most of their themes are involve the abuse or killing of little children. Director Rose Riordan leads the audience on a path of twists and turns in the show that are surprising and enthralling.

One character brings out one of the best aspects in the production. Katurian’s brother Michael, who is slightly mentally ill, has also been imprisoned for questioning. Michael, played by Tim True, brings a lot of innocence and laughter to the very dark and macabre play. Michael makes the audience laugh, but more than that, he makes the audience uncomfortable about laughing. Throughout the show, there is violence and torture that make it sometimes uncomfortable to watch. But, in between that, the performers make the audience feel uncomfortable about laughing at the awkward yet hilarious moments.

The cast is impeccable, and the performances of Michael and the two police officers is top notch. Kennedy shakes the rafters as the disturbed and misunderstood mean-cop-that-ends-up-good, Ariel. Cullen commands the stage the second he walks onto it and also uses humor perfectly to break up uncomfortable sequences in his role as Tupolsky. As Michael, True does a superb job not being completely mentally retarded, but just slow enough to not be all there, even though he has a good idea what’s going on. Nickell, as Katurian, cannot keep up and gets lost in the group of much more experienced actors. After being beaten up and tortured, he looks more like he has to go to the bathroom than like he has just been strapped to a battery. He also falls into patterns in his performance, sometimes repeating obvious facial and body movements on similar lines without really noticing.

The director uses the enclosed space incredibly well as the actors move from one end of the stage to the other without looking out of place. Another thing to note should be the very interesting way of presenting the dream sequences and acting out of Katurian’s stories. The boxy cartoon characters are very colorfully costumed and use robot-like movements to show their more inhuman qualities. It is a refreshing visual break from the bleak colors of the two cops and prisoners.

Overall, the show is extremely well produced top to bottom. From the cast to the stage to the costumes, every part of this show has been well thought out and perfectly executed.

The Pillowman

Portland Center Stage’s Gerding Theater

Showing until March 18, 2007

Sunday-Thursday evening shows and Saturday matinee shows are $16.50 for patrons under 30