THE

PILLOWMAN

Concept
Censured Poe

Justification
As parents takes pride in their children, so do artists in their own work; be it
literature, drama, photography, paintings, etc. But what if someone with high
authority decided to come in and omit everything that makes the story come to like,
because it offended or is morally wrong according to their opinion. How would the
author, painter, photographer, or actor feel, when they see their work assaulted?
Thats my question.

Synopsis
Katurian, an author of short stories, which most than not involve violence and killing
of children, is being interrogated by detectives Tupolski and Ariel, under suspicion of
three child murders that resemble three of his stories. Two of those stories are rea
and told. The detectives are also holding Katurians older handicap brother, Michal,
whom they torture. When Katurian is told that His brother has confessed to killing
the three children he refuses to answer any more questions. Hes then tortured and
thrown in the same cell as his brother as they await execution. In the cell with his
brother Katurian learns they didnt torture Michal, but that Michal did in fact kill the
kids by reenacting stories that Katurian wrote. Katurian tells the story of the
Pillowman and The Green Little Pig. Katurian accepts the fate of execution by tries to
save his stories by killing his own brother and confessing to the three killings
himself.
Included in the play are the narrations of two of Katurians stories: The Writer and
the Writers Brother and The Little Jesus

THE PILLOWMAN

Outline
Act 1 Scene 1
Katurian is being interrogated by Tupolski and Ariel. Katurina is unsure to why,
but believe that his one of his stories was flagged for political reasons. The stories
themselves as gruesome tales of children murder and violence. Katurian learns that
there are three child murder cases that resemble his stories. They read a few of the
stories. Ariel leave and beats a confession out of Michal, Katurians brother. Ariel
returns saying that Michal confessed to the killings of all three kids, in association
with Katurian. Katurian learns that the first two kids were killed after the manner of
two of the stories they read: The Little Apple Men and The Tale of the Town on the
River. Katurinan refuses to speak and denies everything. He stick by his belief that
the job of a storyteller is to tell stories.
Act 1 Scene 2
The Writer and the Writers Brother- this is an autobiographical story of
Katurinans life. Katurian was raised by parents who loved and encouraged him to
write, which he did, for 7 years he wrote very happy stories. Then during the night, he
began to wake up to the faint sounds of torture from the next room, and his stories
began to become more gruesome and disturbing. Until one night, a note was slipped
under the door from the next room explaining that Katurians brother had been
tortured every night for the last seven years as a creative experiment to make
Katurian a better writer. Katurinan breaks in to find his parent were only playing a
trick, there was no tortured brother. Eventually Katurian returns to his childhood
home years later and finds the corpse of his brother hidden under the mattress,
clutching an incredible story that was better than Katurian, which he then burns.
Katurian share the alternate and real ending to his story. When Katurian broke into
his brothers room he found Michal still alive, and a vengeance he killed his parents
and took care of his brother frm then on.
Act 2 Scene 1
Katurian is thrown into Michals cell. Michal evidently was never tortured. Just
cooperated so that Ariel wouldnt hurt him. Michal requests Katurian to the tell him
the story of The Pillowman, a story of man made from pillows, who saves children
from living terrible lives. Michal admits that he actually did kill the kids following the
stories. Katurian forces his to tell him which story the third kid reflected, Michal tells
himThe Little Jesus, the worst one. Michal resents the The Writer and the Writers

THE PILLOWMAN

Brother, and wishes Katurian kept the happier version. To help him sleep Katurian
tells the story of The Little Green Pig to Michal. Once hes asleep, Katurian smothers
him with a pillow.
Act 2 Scene 2
The Little Jesus- Katurian narrates this horrible story. A young girl believes she
is the second coming of Jesus, and tries to bless the less fortunate, to the dismay of
her parents. Her parents are killed in an accident and she is put with a foster family.
Eventually fed up with her antics they re-enact the last week of Jesus life, torturing
her, crucifying her and burying her alive for three days to rise again. She doesnt
Act 3
Katurian is back in interrogation but know he is frantically writing out his
confession, not only to the killing of the three kids but to killing his parents and his
brother. Ariel preps to torture Katurian with an electric battery while explaining his
hated for child murders. Katurian guess it has to do with childhood trauma, Tupolski
confirms that Ariel father was sexually abusive, whom Ariel later murdered. When the
detective ask whether or not the third child was alive when she was buried or not,
Katurian cant answer. Ariel takes a guess that she is still alive, and runs out to find
the girl. Tupolski tells his own story to Katurian drawing the connection to himself,
thinking he is a protector who doesnt get involved. Ariel returns with the girl, come
to find out that it wasnt The Little Jesus story that was re-enacted but The Little
Green Pig. They question Katurian more to come to find out that he is completely
ignorant of the details of the child murders, because he wasnt involved. Though
Katurian is still to be executed for killing Michal and his parents. Just as Ariel goes to
burn all the stories, Katurian stopps him and tells him that the Pillowman went to
Michal when he was young. Michal chose not to kill himself, and to suffer years
torture, so that Katurian could write his stories. Ariel was going to burn the stories,
but Katruian is shot dead before he could finish and Ariel decides to save them.

THE PILLOWMAN

Characters
Tuposki: A cool detective, with a cold heart. Hes senior to Ariel and doesnt like
getting involved with personal affairs.
Katurian: An author, who writes gruesome stories about child abuse and killings. He
believes that a storytellers only job is to tell stories.
Ariel: A brute of a detective. Hes got anger issues, and hates child murderers. Hes
got a dark past involving being raped by his own father.
Michal: He has the mind of a 4th grader, but is at least two years older than Katurian
his brother. His mind is innocent, as well as his motives. Though rationality escapes
him.
Mother: The psycho mother of Katurian and Michal; the loving but annoyed mother of
The Little Jesus girl; the terrible foster mother of the The Little Jesus girl
Father: The psycho father of Katurian and Michal; the loving but annoyed father of
The Little Jesus girl; the terrible foster father of the The Little Jesus girl
Boy: Younger Katurian, a developing writer.
Girl: She believes she is the second coming of Jesus Christ.

Rehearsal Schedule
Week 1: Scene Explorations Act 1
Week 2: Scene Explorations Act 2
Week 3: Scene Explorations Act 3 and Staging Act 1
Week 4: Staging Act 2 and Act 3
Week 5: Refining Act 1 and 2
Week 6: Refining Act 3 and Begin run-throughs
Week 7: Run-throughs and refinments
Week 8: Tech Week