After the brief festival run of its productions, Maniacal (Fringe Manila 2015) and Schism (Fringe Manila 2016), Egg Theater
Company presents its first full-run production with a Filipino Translation of Martin
McDonagh’s The Pillowman.
Winner
of the 2004 Olivier Award for Best Play and Tony-Nominated in 2005 for Best
Play, The Pillowman is about a writer
in an unidentified totalitarian state being interrogated about his gruesome and
macabre short stories that has inspired a series of child murders. The Pillowman is a dark comedy that boldly
exhibits the riveting power of narrative and how storytelling and invention of
fantastical tales is a basic human instinct. With the coming elections and the incessant
specter of dictatorships and martial law, this production resonates with its
exploration of the fine line between the freedom of an individual to tell a
story and its impact on the security of society.
Palanca
awardee and Egg Theater Company co-founder, George de Jesus III in translating
and directing The Pillowman, remarks,
“In examining the dark side of imagination and creativity, the play probes into
how stories are created, the motivation that drives a writer to tell a story
and the responsibility of a writer on the impact of what he has written. Put
that against a totalitarian-state setting and we get a play that are by turns
disturbingly funny and emotionally shocking. Given that the play is set in an
unnamed totalitarian state, translating it into Filipino affords us not only in
making it somehow familiar but it also further fuels the idea of it possibly
becoming real.”
Egg
Theater Company co-founder and producer adds, “But beyond being political, The Pillowman will make us take stock on
the power of words and how it can affect other people. There’s a line by
Katurian that says, "It's not about being or not
being dead, it's about what you leave behind." I think it’s something that
will resonate to anyone in the creative field and it’s what we want to
accomplish with Egg Theater Company, to create Filipino productions that will
linger in the minds of our audience.”
Co-presented by Pineapple Lab, The
Pillowman features Gabs Santos as Katurian, Paolo O’Hara and Paul Jake
Paule as Michal, Renante Bustamante as Tupolski and Acey Aguilar as Ariel.
The
production will also feature original music and animated graphics by Joee
Mejias.
The
play will run from April 8-10 and 22-24, 2016, 8:00 PM at Pineapple Lab, 6071
R. Palma Street, Poblacion, Makati City.
For
tickets and inquiries, visit Egg Theater Company’s FB Page or
contact 0917-844-0520.
*Press release as written by Mr. Toots Tolentino. Photos are from the production.
