Paris Performers’ Theatre’s production of Martin McDonagh’s ‘The Pillowman’ is now underway at the Paris Fairgrounds in the Special Events room.
The dark comedy follows four principal characters and tells the story of Katurian Katurian, a fiction author who lives in a police state. Katurian is now being interrogated by two detectives about the gruesome content of his short stories and their striking similarities to several bizarre child murders occurring in his town.
Connor McGrath, who portrays Katurian, was the one who brought the script forward to Paris Performers’ Theatre because of its intriguing nature.
“I fell in love with the show because it touches upon a lot of things like: what constitutes art? Are there any rules and regulations as to what art is? And then the very topical thing is whether police can be a little too overbearing, so it spoke to me on a lot of those levels,” he said. “The writing is also great and the dialogue between characters can be fun. It’s interesting because it deals with dark subject matter, but you laugh, and then you go ‘should I have laughed at that?’ so I really enjoy shows like this and plus, it’s offbeat and different from what other companies are putting on.”
Audience members can expect a show with twists and turns that will be sure to raise the hair on the back of their necks.
“There’s shock value and dark topics, but the delivery and timing will help create some of that nervous laughter and get people thinking,” said Deanna Stevens, who portrays Detective Ariel.
“It’s not really a ‘who dunnit’ type of show in the sense that there are many people who could be suspects, but it really unfolds as the story comes out,” added Nathan Farmer who is portraying Detective Tupolski. “There’s twists and turns and there is lots of character development, some characters grow and some flip. The audience should definitely expect discomfort and some good solid drama.”
The three-act show will run roughly for 150 minutes, and audience members can expect to have a shared experience that will get them facing the story and its subject matter head on.
The next set of performances will be held from Friday, February 24 to Sunday, February 26, 2023. Evening tickets for 8:00 p.m. are available to purchase for Friday and Saturday’s shows – doors open at 7:30 p.m.. Sunday’s show will run as a matinee starting at 2:00 p.m. and doors will open at 1:30 p.m.
Tickets can be found on Eventbrite and at Green Heron Books in Paris.
Please note that the following show comes with mature content, coarse language and violence warning.
