Is writing stories a crime?

A brilliant play by Oscar-rewarded Martin McDonagh where a writer gets accused of crime stories he has written.

Finnish Premiere 17th March 2009
English Premiere 26th March 2009
at the TTT-Theatre of Tampere, Old Main Stage
HUOM! Esitys tekstitetään suomeksi
Age limit is 16.

The play will be performed in finnish and in english.
Go to finnish pages.

Katurian, a writer of twisted short stories, finds himself sitting in a police station in a strangely familiar dictator state. In the cell next to him lies his mentally challenged brother Michal. During a Kafka-like (but not nearly as pleasant) hearing, he learns that somebody has been murdering children in exactly the same way as his short stories. And he finds himself the prime suspect.

Who is the murderer? What happened to Katurian that made him write such shocking yet brilliant horror stories? And, in the end, what does his seemingly merciless and unreasonable interrogator really want?

The Pillowman is a grim, devilishly funny story that walks the precarious borderline between truth and deception. It’s an account of creativity, the power of the written word and the accountability of the writer. It’s a glimpse of that historical event when man traded fantasy for reason.

And it’s as black as a comedy can get.

Warning: The events and stories can cause anxiety. Not for children under 16.

Production The TTT-Theatre of Tampere in co-operation with The  University of Tampere: Department of acting (Näty) and The Centre for 
Practice as Research in Theatre.

Cast
Katurian Toni Harjajärvi (Näty)
Michal Tomi Alatalo (Näty)
Tupolski, interrogator Riku Suokas
Ariel, interrogator Petra Saaristo (Näty)
Written by Martin McDonagh
Translated into finnish by Sami Parkkinen
Director Mikko Kanninen
Scenography by Kimmo Sirén
Costumes by Marjaana Mutanen
Sound designer Sinikka Isoniemi
Lightning designer Esko Suhonen
Video designer Ilari Kellokoski