The Pillowman is a 2003 play by Irish playwright Martin McDonagh. An especially dark black comedy, it tells the tale of Katurian, a fiction writer living in a police state who is interrogated about the gruesome content of his short stories, and their similarities to a number of bizarre child murders occurring in his town. The play received the 2004 Olivier Award for Best New Play, the 2004-5 New York Drama Critics’ Circle Award for Best New Foreign Play, and two Tony Awards for production. It was nominated for the 2004 Evening Standard Award for Best New Play.
The Pillowman is very popular, yeah, yeah, yeah. I can’t speak on execution because I haven’t seen any performances, but If you haven’t read a play in a while and you’d like to get the juices flowing again, this is a perfect read because it’s current, it’s dark and it’s fun. And it’s about rape! Yay!
"A Streetcar Named Desire"
Marlon Brando’s performance of this script is ALWAYS accredited as revolutionizing acting techniques and setting the standard for American method acting. Um, That’s pretty ridiculous! Believe the hype or not– the performances are amazing. And there’s a reason why every acting teacher tells you to stay the hell away from doing scenes from A Streetcar Named Desire in class.
Yes this movie is a classic, but we chose to showcase it this week because every action Brando executes is crystal clear (moreso than in his other movies), yet the actions still seem so effortless and fluid. Losing your fire? See fire at it’s best:
