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The Pillowman

by Martin McDonagh

Directed by Matthew Dunster

Duke of York’s Theatre, London

August 2023

Lily Allen as Katurian and Steve Pemberton as Topolski
in The Pillowman.

Martin McDonagh’s 2004 play The Pillowman is an uneasy mix of gruesome fairy tales, child abuse and murder, overlaid with McDonagh’s signature black humour. Singer Lily Allen and Steve Pemberton head the cast of this revival directed by Matthew Dunster, who worked with McDoonagh on his last two plays. Jodi and I attempt to reconcile the horror and the laughs of the play in this new production. 

We also review Tom Basden’s hilarious new adaptation of Dario Fo’s Accidental Death of an Anarchist at the Theatre Royal Haymarket in this same episode, which as it happens is also set in a police station, but is a very different story.

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