About the play

5-9 October 2016, Mersch Kulturhaus

THE PILLOWMAN – a darkly comic masterpiece

This stunning play by Martin McDonagh, a contemporary writer known for his grotesquely weird and surreal plays, is captivating, disturbing and blackly funny. 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 issue at stake is not the content of the stories but the moral responsibilities of the author and his readers. The Pillowman deals with these issues in a wonderfully subversive way, expertly interweaving horror and high comedy into a spellbinding story, its blackness shot through with fierce humanity.

In addition to being described as “a conspicuous criticism of society”, The Pillowman has been said to be romantic, comical, malevolent and enthralling. It is a thriller as well as a “chamber play of passion”, a semiotic horror story and a drama of premonition, extremely funny but sad at the same time, intelligent and obnoxious. The play has generated as much controversy as praise, yet its international success has proven its outstanding quality – it is indeed a play for our times.

The Pillowman received its première at the National Theatre in London in 2003 and opened on Broadway in 2005. It has received numerous awards including the2004 Oliver Award for Best New Play, the 2005 New York Drama Critics' Circle Award for Best New Foreign Play, and two Tony Awards. The play has been translated into over 40 languages and is still being produced all over the globe.

The Pillowman is performed by the NEW WORLD THEATRE CLUB of Luxembourg in co-production with the MIERSCHER KULTURHAUS. (www.nwtc.lu)

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

When:     October 5, 6, 7, 8 at 8 pm
October 9 at 5 pm

Where:   Kulturhaus, 53 rue Grande-Duchesse Charlotte, 7520 Mersch.
The Kulturhaus is less than 20 minutes from Luxembourg city via the new north motorway and there is ample parking just below the theatre in rue Jean Majerus off rue Grande-Duchesse Charlotte

Tickets :  www.luxembourgticket.lu
or telephone to the Kulturhaus Mersch (26 32 43 1)