November 16 - 18, 2017 at the Center for the Arts Theatre at Wesleyan University (Middletown, CT)
By Martin McDonagh
Directed by Edward Torres
A famous author of macabre stories is held in custody for a series of gruesome child murders that mirror the author's voice and details. When the detectives investigating these cases get caught up in this psychological thriller, the darker aspects of the human condition are revealed.
The Wesleyan production of The Pillowman is set in late 1980s/mid-1990s America under a totalitarian/dictator state. The production features a minimal set design by Emmie Finckel, sound design by Anthony Dean, fight choreography by Sean Chin, and two separate lead casts with different gendered actors playing the lead roles in alternating performances. Campus hip hop artists also contribute original music narration with rap verses in French and Chinese.
“The Pillowman is a play about storytelling—how we see the world affects people’s perceptions on so many levels,” said director and Assistant Professor of the Practice Edward Torres, a former criminal defense investigator. “I picked this play because of the subject of police torture, but also because of the bigger questions: ‘what is justice?’ ‘How do we seek it?' It is a brutal play, and is difficult for students to act. It is also a challenge for the audience to follow the story without getting enraged by the emotional subject matter."
