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| Saturday, May 31, 2008
Theatre > Review > The Pillowman by Martin McDonagh, performed by SRT Referencing Jesus Christ in Martin McDonagh's "The Pillowman"Writer : Aaron Lee Singapore Repertory Theatre Date : 26 March - 6 April 2008 Venue : DBS Arts Centre  "The Pillowman" is a 2003 black comedy written by Anglo-Irish playwright Martin McDonagh. In the play, Katurian, a writer of grisly short stories often depicting violence against children, has been arrested by two detectives, because some of his stories resemble recent child murders. On learning that his brother Michal has confessed to the murders and implicated Katurian, he resigns himself to his execution but attempts to save his stories from destruction. The play includes narrations and reenactments of several of Katurian's stories, most notably the autobiographical 'The Writer and the Writer's Brother', which tells how Katurian developed his disturbed imagination by hearing the sounds of Michal being tortured by their parents. Some important themes are highlighted in the play-- from personal questions of self-identity and self-regard, childhood and parenthood and how we are shaped by our pasts; to larger social issues such as the evils of censorship, dictatorship, and the implications of violence in society; to artistic issues such as the purpose and power of stories, and creative responsibility. Many of these themes have been commented on in other fora, and so this article will focus on the references and treatment of Jesus' life story in the play. There are two main arguments that I wish to make. First, despite the fact that the main effect of referencing Jesus in the play was to raise the 'gore and violence' level, the treatment of Jesus' life story ultimately did not depart from the Scriptural truths about Christ and his ministry. Second, the parallel story of the 'Little Green Pig' holds the key to unlocking one of the most important messages of the play, especially for those who are not familiar with Christ as a religious figure. Part of this second argument is a third, but equally significant point - the play finally leaves us in no doubt that the Pillowman as a philosophical construct, cannot save man from his self-destructive destiny. In a 2006 review of the play, theatre critic Christopher Rawson compared Martin McDonagh with other Anglo-Irish playwrights and highlighted that in McDonagh's seven plays that were written in a one-year spurt (including two trilogies and "The Pillowman"), his native Ireland was used as an ideological springboard, "a parody of cultural myth, where he [could] dig right through ethnic, regional steroetypes into a global present tense". Rawson omitted to add that McDonagh also owed a debt to Christian tradition in tapping into the documented life of Jesus for dramaturgical purposes. In Act 2 we are introduced to the story 'The Little Jesus', one of Katurian's most violent tales. The story is re-enacted in II.ii, and is mistakenly thought to be the source for the third murder. In brief, a young girl believes that she is a little version of Jesus, and goes about in her sandals blessing unsavory characters, to the dismay of her parents and the annoyance of others. When her parents are killed in a horrific accident, she is sent to live with abusive foster parents. Provoked by her pretensions of divinity, the foster parents complete her performance of Jesus' life by torturing her and eventually burying her alive so that she might rise again in three days. The audience sees them whipping the child, forcing her to carry the cross, placing a crown of thorns on her head, crucifying her, breaking her legs, and impaling her with a spear-- the whole time repeatedly challenging her delusions of divinity. Much of the expressed revulsion for "The Pillowman" by theatre-goers is a result of the graphic re-enactment of the Christ story. Looking beyond the R-rated violence however, it is clear that the girl is in no way a stereotype of a self-righteous and judgmental Christian. It is my contention that the subplot follows the documented Jesus story closely because the child is intended by the playwright to represent the pure love and mission of Jesus. In a play where the depravity is graphically presented, the playwright has rightly chosen Jesus to represent the antithesis of man's sin. At the start of this subplot the girl tries to perform a miracle, but it did not work and she was ironically reported to the police by the blind man that she tried to help. That, and the entire chain of events that follows, shows that the world, such as it is, is not engineered to accept pure love. Such love seems to naturally provoke man's basest and vilest reactions, and is testament to original sin. So why didn't the Little Jesus rise from the dead in the same way Jesus eventually triumphed? The answer is simple: because she was not Jesus. She was literally a 'little Jesus', nothing more. In "The Pillowman", Michal tells Katurian that he'd followed the 'Little Jesus' story in killing the third child. As it turns out, he had inexplicably lied-- he had followed the 'Little Green Pig' story instead. The missing girl is eventually rescued only to find that she had been painted green, being otherwise unharmed. Ironically, she was also taking care of some piglets. The 'Little Green Pig' story is a central to the play. A green pig, who enjoys his peculiar coloring, is mocked by the other pigs. The farmers use a special permanent paint to make the pig pink just like all the others. The pig prays to God to keep his peculiarity, and can't understand why God ignored his prayers. Soon after, however, a magic green rain falls that makes all the other pigs green, and since the little pig retains his pink color, he is once again a little bit peculiar. This story is the key with which to unlock much of the themes in the play, as well as to explicate the 'Little Jesus' references. It is the thread that the audience pulls on to unravel the meaning of the play in the second half, all the way to its conclusion. For a start, this is the only non-depraved story of Katurian's. Michal has a subnormal intelligence; it is his favourite story but he is unable to recount it in its entirety (this is somewhat strange, considering that he knew enough of it to actualise it with the kidnapped girl). Michal finds this story immensely comforting, and falls sleep while Katurian tells him the story (right before smothering him with a pillow to save him from execution). This plot device is not just your everyday story of the 'radical artist' or even a humanistic reminder of the individual's uniqueness. The 'Little Jesus' story provides a moral centre to the 'Little Green Pig' story, telling us that every radical individual is an archetype of Christ (and not vice versa). It also reminds us that there is a divine plan at work in the history and destiny of mankind, even if earthly circumstances may seem to contradict this. In this paradigm nothing happens to God's children that does not pass through His hands; and He can work to turn any situation into a blessing. Ultimately we are unique only in Christ; we are the stories that Katurian sacrificed himself to save from destruction.  One final observation. In the play, the Pillowman comes to doubt his own judgment about whether he is actually doing any good in trying to 'save' the children who will grow up to suffer horrible fates. Overcome by despair at the failure of even his best efforts, he eventually returns to his childhood and commits suicide by self-immolation. He takes the same way out for himself that he offers to the children, thereby admitting that he is a faulty, ineffectual savior. "The Pillowman" represents our best attempts to make things right by ourselves, even with the benefit of foresight. In this continuing attempt man is powerless. This is not only borne out by history and our observations of current affairs, but for us as Christians, it is also a Scriptural truth. Visit http://www.srt.com.sg/ All images from Artwork from the production design by wu + brown and Alien, Flaky & Friends Animation Sudios
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