Shock Therapy Productions’ presents a fusion of puppetry, physical theatre, shadow play and intense, razor-sharp dialogue in the black comedy, 'The Pillowman'.
Directed by Sam Foster, 'The Pillowman' stars Hayden Jones, Ben Warren and award-winning Brisbane actor and director Tama Matheson. Foster says The Pillowman is a juxtaposition of two worlds. It flips between the harsh reality of Katurian (Warren) being interrogated by police (Foster and Jones) while his brother Michal (Matheson) waits next door and Katurian’s re-telling of the stories he has written.
“The play is full of dialogue and it is very fast-paced,” Sam explains. “We love great text – we have all performed Shakespeare – but we have fused text with action and physical theatre to make a rich, vibrant and very visual show.”
The Pillowman was inspired by the following five filmmakers:Stanley Kubrick
How can you go past Kubrick when it comes to dark and twisted! There are moment in the show that are definitely inspired by films like 'A Clockwork Orange' and 'The Shining'. This play is part horror, part comedy so the psychological suspense that Kubrick creates in his films have been a massive inspiration.
Quentin Tarantino
The writer of 'The Pillowmam', Martin McDonagh was once described as the love child of Franz Kafka and Quentin Tarantino. There are moments of ultra violence in the play so who better to look to when it comes to ultra violence and torture than Mr Tarantino! Also, the way he successfully fused comedy and violence into the one story is masterful.
Martin Scorcese
Arguably the greatest film maker of our generation "Marty" continues to pump out hardhitting powerful films. With a play that is set in a Totalitarian Dictatorship, with a couple of bulldog policemen then "Goodfellas" and "Taxi Driver" really inspired the character choice in the play.
Lars Von Trier
The set design for this show is largely inspired by the film 'Dogville' and the confrontational nature of the play reminds me of some of the hard to watch scenes from 'Dancer In The Dark" and 'Breaking The Waves'.
Cohen Brothers
Funny, dark, weird and suspenseful... That is what the Cohen Brothers are able to do in their films. They also have created some of the most memorable characters in film history. The characters in the The Pillowman are 'larger than life' and we have definitely drawn inspiration from films like 'No Country For Old Men' and 'Fargo'.
