Featuring interweaving secret police investigations and puppetry sequences, senior Zach Perez's production of Martin McDonagh's "The Pillowman" will run Wednesday and Thursday.
First performed in 2003, "The Pillowman" is a dark comedy centered around a writer whose short stories mysteriously begin to correspond to a series of child murders in an anonymous totalitarian state.
The play centers on a writer, Katurian, who is being interrogated by two detectives seeking to solve the violent crimes.
Scenes of ruthless questioning and accusations are juxtaposed with re-enactments of Katurian's stories that elaborate on the primary plot.
In the year following its premiere, McDonagh's play won the Lawrence Olivier Award for Best New Play, the New York Drama Critics' Circle Award for Best New Foreign Play, and two Tonys.
Perez's rendition is his third directorial project at Bowdoin, having previously put together a short directing project in the fall of 2010 and an advanced project for Theatre 305 in the spring of 2011 titled "Shakespeare in the Pool".
The production of "The Pillowman" is the first time Perez ahs independently directed a play in its entirely. Associate Professor of Theater and Dance, Roger Bechtel, has served as his adviser.
"I've always had an interest in dark humor, it sort of takes you into a world where things are often much more brutal than they are in real life," Perez said.
"This humor revolves around the subject of death and finds a way to make light of it," he added.
The interweaving of Katurian's interrogation and the narratives of his stories leaves room for directorial interpretation.
While the original Broadway production juxtaposed the principle plot with live performances of Katurian's stories on opposite stages, Perez has chosen to tell the tales through puppetry.
The sequences will unfold on a small puppet stage with the integral involvement of two actors, or puppeteers, who according to Perez, "act as the personification of Katurian's stories."
Perez said his original idea to use puppets stems from his overall fascination with puppets and their ability to bring a wholly different element to the stage.
In addition to its complex plot, "The Pillowman" makes reference to an additional text, an old German folktale, "The Pied Piper of Hamelin."
"In a lot of ways, it fills a niche, said Ben Rosenbloom '14, who will play Katurian. "It's a really interesting play about creativity and creation and censorship and the power that stories and writing can have over lives."
"The Pillowman" will be performed Wednesday and Thursday, March 7 and 8 in Memorial Hall, Room 108 at 7 p.m.
Tickets are available at the Smith Union student information desk and will also be available at the Memorial Hall box office prior to each performance.
Due to limited seating, tickets expire 10 minutes before show time.