Pangdemonium :: 'The Pillowman'

The first show in Pangdemonium's 2017 season is Irish playwright Martin McDonaugh's dark little tale 'The Pillowman'. Written in 2003, I still enjoy watching various productions of the play. Such a good story and lines. Tracie Pang directed this first show in Singapore under Singapore Repertory Theatre in 2008, to great reception, even before Pangdemonium was conceived. Now, a decade later, 'The Pillowman' is brought back to stage, still directed by Tracie Pang, starring the same Adrian Pang and Daniel Jenkins.

What a pleasure it was to watch good actors slip into the dark roles of tormented fiction writer of gruesome short stories involving children- Katurian (Daniel Jenkins), and lead detective Tupolski (Adrian Pang). They tell you stories, and dark little tales of the deaths of children, and how tormented souls create more tormented souls. We hear how Katurian killed his twisted parents who tortured his brother Michal (Andy Tear) for seven years, leaving him alive but wounded and brain-damaged. And finally, the audience listened to the story of 'The Pillowman', of what he is, and how he's really not that scary. We see how policeman Ariel (Shane Mardjuki) wrestles with his own demons, whose heart is on the right side of justice and fairness afterall, even within a totalitarian regime.

Pangdemonium stages great productions. Which is why I've purchased its annual season ticket (to three Singapore shows a year) since it was first offered in 2013. However, the company seems to have decided on the formula of presenting two plays (one serious and brooding, and the other a family comedy) and one musical in a season. I'm not into musicals, no matter how good it is; the singing bores me to tears. I'll see about next year's season ticket. It's sold well enough that the booking of the shows for holders of the season pass is now done on SISTIC. It might make more sense to simply buy tickets for individual shows.