Past Reviews

Regional Reviews: St. Louis

The Pillowman
Theatre Lab

Also see Richard's review of The Threepenny Opera


Jason C. Klefisch and Nick Kelly
If you've ever paid a visit to the eerie world of The Pillowman, you'll certainly remember the spine-tingling chills of this Kafkaesque story.

But it's easier to forget the rest of the play's impressive terrain—especially the bittersweet, rocky chasms of familial heartbreak, and the fascinating, switchback roads of plot and role reversals. There's even humor, especially when our guilty laughter accompanies a policeman's own childhood fable (for which I have no landscaping metaphor).

And in this new staging, in the intimate Gaslight Theatre, all these elements are distinctly heightened. In the process, the show (directed by Ryan Foizey) is re-balanced into something far more dramatically satisfying than just a series of children's nightmares. Of course it helps that there are four terrific actors on stage, too.

It's also, unexpectedly, a hypnotic multi-media experience. The illustrations that ripple and swirl across the back of the stage are haunting and dreamlike, drawn and painted by Aaron Allen, a professional illustrator for Marvel and DC Comics. And the strange stories told in those drawings are beautifully supported by the music of Luke Viertel. The nearly animated fairy tales add enormously to the story, somehow tapping into something child-like in our own minds, there in the darkness.

It's my second Pillowman, after one six or eight years ago. And somehow it's much more impressive this time. Or, my guard is finally down, and I can actually pay attention to all the dramatic mechanisms at work, beyond the grisliest ones, in the hands of these actors. The reversals and the betrayals all seem sharper and more astonishing, the humor more confoundedly dim-witted, and the dim-witted brother (played by Nick Kelly) so much more beautifully developed.

If you saw the last, beautifully produced local production (by the Rep, in their "Off Ramp" series, at the Grandel Theatre), you may still be cringing: over the fate of a writer arrested for his stories about the horrible demise of certain children. But here, sitting right up close, the humanity of each character comes under a microscope, and much more is visible in each of them.

Darian Michael Garey, as the "bad cop," carries a lot more psychological weight in this staging, as we gradually learn more about his own private life. And Eric Dean White, as the "good cop," can play his part with tremendous subtlety, as we are virtually at his feet throughout.

The action takes place in two interrogation rooms, where Katurian (the seemingly harmless Jason C. Klefisch) has to explain that he is not the murderer of innocent kids who've died just like the fictional kids in his short stories. Mr. Klefisch (and director Foizey) can deliberately spread out Katurian's personal development through the nearly two and a half hours he's on stage, give-or-take. It's jarring to watch him bargain and beg with his tormentors, yet it's nearly all done with the lightest brushstrokes of characterization. And by the end, with a sense of surprise, we realize how real the character has steadily become to us.

Mr. Kelly, as Michael, is jovial and childlike—and when circumstances become harrowing, or heartbreaking, the genuine pain of each of Michael's given circumstances are paid in full. There are multiple balancing acts going on in the script by Martin McDonagh—perhaps most memorably including the relationship between one brother (who should have known better than to manipulate people's worst fears about their children's safety) and another (who simply doesn't know any better)—that are just another great reason to see this play. The brothers become truly remarkable, but the ever-present human need to force confessions out of one another leads to stunning revelations for both victim and oppressor in this outstanding show.

Through June 7, 2015, at the Gaslight Theatre, two blocks north of Lindell on Boyle. For more information visit Theatre Lab on Facebook.

The Cast
Katurian Katurian: Jason C. Klefisch
Ariel: Darian Michael Garey
Tupolski: Eric Dean White
Michael: Nick Kelly

The Artistic Staff
Director: Ryan Foizey
Lighting Designer: James Slover
Scenic Designer: Rob Lippert
Costume Designer: Marcy Weigert
Illustrations: Aaron Allen
Painting: Michelle Sauer
Original Music: Luke Viertel
Directing Intern: Chris Chi
Poster Design: Ryan Musselman


Photo: John Lamb


-- Richard T. Green