tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7202906.post5670145446131789907..comments2024-02-18T19:36:43.844+11:00Comments on theatre notes: Review: The PillowmanAlison Croggonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08398213223487458758noreply@blogger.comBlogger20125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7202906.post-34174042611782661132010-02-24T08:59:19.619+11:002010-02-24T08:59:19.619+11:00One of the defining attributes of middle-brow thea...One of the defining attributes of middle-brow theatre is precisely those decipherable "themes". Highbrow doesn't bother with "issues". Just sayin.Alison Croggonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08398213223487458758noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7202906.post-34556379483398432842010-02-23T21:31:56.289+11:002010-02-23T21:31:56.289+11:00I think The Pillowman works for the lowbrow punter...I think The Pillowman works for the lowbrow punters who simply want to watch a man find a dead child under his mattress, and it works for the intellectual theatre-goers who are looking for critiques of censorship, artistic responsibility, and cultural attitudes to suicide (to name but three of the many themes).<br /><br />McDonagh didn't include anything for the few who find themselves in theJack Heathhttp://jackheath.com.aunoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7202906.post-10620322238800737692007-06-16T08:47:00.000+10:002007-06-16T08:47:00.000+10:00Hi Bojana, thanks for that perspective, which is i...Hi Bojana, thanks for that perspective, which is interesting. I am not sure if you're taking issue with my review, but if you are, I agree with you - in fact, I say myself that its true charm is as a comedy. What I was objecting to wasn't the violence at all, but to what I considered the pretensions of the writing, which seemed to me to be coming from a privileged place that merely served the Alison Croggonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08398213223487458758noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7202906.post-51947554426616473382007-06-16T01:25:00.000+10:002007-06-16T01:25:00.000+10:00I saw this play in BELGRADE a number of years ago,...I saw this play in BELGRADE a number of years ago, in the Serbian language. A friend dragged me along to see some spunk she was in love with in what she said was a role “written for him.” I did not know anything about the play itself. So it made perfect sense to me to believe it was a Serbian play. Until I read the program at interval. Somehow it lost its magic after that.<BR/><BR/>What struck Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7202906.post-85019037594464096752007-06-04T19:47:00.000+10:002007-06-04T19:47:00.000+10:00Being in London I saw 'lieutenant of inishmore' fi...Being in London I saw 'lieutenant of inishmore' first and thought it, well, fantastic. So I was very excited about going to see Pillowman and HUGELY disappointed by it. I felt like my head had been pushed around a bit but my heart entirely unengaged. People I know here who liked it are 'intellectual/literary' types. Left this theatre writer in the cold... <BR/><BR/>However I did soften a bit whenAllen O'Learyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06784943884980641288noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7202906.post-69142087866753405942007-05-30T15:11:00.000+10:002007-05-30T15:11:00.000+10:00Thanks Abe, that seems acute to me. Perhaps the fa...Thanks Abe, that seems acute to me. Perhaps the fact that the play is <I>by</I> an artist isn't a red herring...but now we're getting into circular and dubious territory. (An ampty play as a comment on the emptiness of culture, etc). Which may well be part of the joke, of course, for examining it too closely. All a bit cynical for naive me, I fear.Alison Croggonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08398213223487458758noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7202906.post-33622716705469273952007-05-30T10:43:00.000+10:002007-05-30T10:43:00.000+10:00Hi Alison,great review though I still thoroughly e...Hi Alison,<BR/><BR/>great review though I still thoroughly enjoyed the script (I've not seen the production).<BR/><BR/>I agree with your conclusion that the "authentic charm of the play" is that "it's a comedy with grand guignol dressing". I think the writing is ferocious and witty and sustains on that level for about 80% of the time.<BR/><BR/>The final impression however is that the only Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7202906.post-8284492949042254262007-05-29T19:24:00.000+10:002007-05-29T19:24:00.000+10:00I went on the 2nd preview night. My impression (a...I went on the 2nd preview night. My impression (and impressions can of course easily be wrong) is that people who attend previews are regular MTC subscribers who are looking to cut down on costs, plus there are a few ghouls who hope that something may go terribly wrong. While some may have left at interval, there wouldn't have been many. I was seated near the rear and I could see few empty Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7202906.post-1750076714911015032007-05-29T04:41:00.000+10:002007-05-29T04:41:00.000+10:00Thanks, Anne-Marie, for the clarifications, contex...Thanks, Anne-Marie, for the clarifications, contexts and contrasts. What did you sense were the particular complaints about this play or production? Did you feel that the audience on your night reacted against a perception of gratuitous violence, or against the pace, or against something else entirely? Although, you're probably right, some of this may pertain to another conversation.<BR/><BR/>Ben Ellishttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16654820455368893078noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7202906.post-85735388626943676412007-05-28T22:58:00.000+10:002007-05-28T22:58:00.000+10:00Taken out of context the statement is indeed Bolti...Taken out of context the statement is indeed Boltish. I shall tone my foolhardiness down....<BR/><BR/>However, context was the sheer amount of people who left, when they left and why. (thanks Craig) It is very unusual for an MTC audience to leave en mass. <BR/><BR/>This is a company whose programming decisions appear to be based on the specific likes of its loyal (and demographically measurable) Anne-Mariehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08072294851883222846noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7202906.post-68983709184517406562007-05-28T19:32:00.000+10:002007-05-28T19:32:00.000+10:00Yes, very enthusiastic applause on the first night...Yes, very enthusiastic applause on the first night - more so than usual, I thought (first nights being first nights etc, I don't always go on press nights because they're not typical - but that's another discussion). I know of at least one walkout tho, our blogger colleague Richard Watts. I didn't notice empty seats after interval, but then, I wasn't looking.<BR/><BR/>I think Ben was responding Alison Croggonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08398213223487458758noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7202906.post-44254387023308519732007-05-28T18:48:00.000+10:002007-05-28T18:48:00.000+10:00Your point is fair enough Ben, but Anne-Marie didn...Your point is fair enough Ben, but Anne-Marie didn't trash the production "without qualification". If you follow the link she provided you'll see she goes into a fair amount of detail as to where she believed the production failed.<BR/><BR/>I found the point she raised about the mass walkout interesting in relation to Alison's experience of having watched the play being received with a "storm of Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7202906.post-30499022960110603832007-05-28T17:37:00.000+10:002007-05-28T17:37:00.000+10:00Excellent (and important) point Ben - and nice to ...Excellent (and important) point Ben - and nice to hear your voice again!<BR/><BR/>Of course, I know people who think there's something seriously wrong when they DON'T get walkouts...Alison Croggonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08398213223487458758noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7202906.post-37270386344779380162007-05-28T17:17:00.000+10:002007-05-28T17:17:00.000+10:00Anne-Marie, I'm not a fan of this play, but I don'...Anne-Marie, I'm not a fan of this play, but I don't think that people leaving a production means that there's anything essentially "wrong" with it and to say so without qualification belies a reliance upon ideological hegemony. If you don't believe me, follow the ruckus over the walk-outs at Mike Daisey's performance.<BR/><BR/>There are any number of reasons why somebody might leave or walk-out Ben Ellishttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16654820455368893078noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7202906.post-24918023630960511222007-05-26T21:54:00.000+10:002007-05-26T21:54:00.000+10:00I saw The Pillowman last night. Last night's audie...I saw The Pillowman last night. <BR/><BR/>Last night's audience REALLY didn't like it (neither did I). Over 100 left during interval and there was a steady stream walking out in act 1.<BR/><BR/>I thought the production failed the script. But the script is very self indulgent.<BR/><BR/>My review is on aussietheatre.com.<BR/><BR/>http://www.aussietheatre.com/revpillow.htmAnne-Mariehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08072294851883222846noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7202906.post-91643539391814610562007-05-26T11:29:00.000+10:002007-05-26T11:29:00.000+10:00Thanks for all the comments (it does sound as if t...Thanks for all the comments (it does sound as if the UK/US production, which I gather had the same staging, was more gruesome than what we had here).<BR/><BR/>Me, I don't have a beef with populist art. Really. I absolutely see the point of entertainment as a value. What gets me is when work that is clearly pulling all the commercial strings appropriates and rides on the emotional legitimacy and Alison Croggonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08398213223487458758noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7202906.post-25412885413615649612007-05-26T10:39:00.000+10:002007-05-26T10:39:00.000+10:00I didn't enjoy the play that much. To put it simp...I didn't enjoy the play that much. To put it simplistically, I found it too gratuitously gruesome for my taste, though I admit to, e.g., finding myself laughing at some of the one-liners, so it did have some entertaining moments for me.<BR/> However I don't think that there is such a thing as The Purpose of writing, literature, etc. Why cannot it not sometimes be important or life changing,Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7202906.post-29397135045940072742007-05-26T07:17:00.000+10:002007-05-26T07:17:00.000+10:00And just as with The History Boys you have here th...And just as with <I>The History Boys</I> you have here the explanation I hadn't been able to articulate (or at least had never gotten around to articulating) as to why I couldn't stand what everybody else seemed to be so crazy about. Ms. Croggon, I know we have not been introduced and you're a married woman, but I think I love you.<BR/><BR/>(I don't know whether Phillips's staging was as graphicAnonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7202906.post-80343379074777332502007-05-26T06:38:00.000+10:002007-05-26T06:38:00.000+10:00yes, when i saw the first production at the nation...yes, when i saw the first production at the national theatre in london, i thought that mcdonough had foist this daft juvenilia on them as revenge for their weak-kneed refusal to produce the rather better 'lieutenant of inishmore'. though, to be honest, i thought the silly fairy stories (elegantly realised on that occasion by john crowley), which at least had some internal coherence, were rather Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7202906.post-79848528522790761342007-05-26T02:49:00.000+10:002007-05-26T02:49:00.000+10:00As you may know, I enjyoed The Pillowman. Of cour...As you may know, I enjyoed The Pillowman. Of course, the play is constantly telling you "DON'T THINK ABOUT ME, JUST BE ENTERTAINED" so I went with it on that. But I think as one considers it more, it does kind of break down a bit. And you and I agree that Katurian's stories are terrible.parabasishttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12476856869466695694noreply@blogger.com