Rehearsals began today (3 May 2023) for the West End premiere of Martin McDonagh’s electrifying and savagely funny Olivier Award-winning The Pillowman.
To mark the start of rehearsals, a set of specially commissioned photographs of Lily Allen and Steve Pemberton by acclaimed British photographer Rankin have been released.
Lily Allen plays Katurian, a writer in a police state who is interrogated about the content of her short stories and their similarities to several murders in the town. Steve Pemberton plays Tupolski with Paul Kaye as Ariel and Matthew Tennyson as Michal.
The cast is completed by Rebecca Lee (Mother and understudy Katurian), Daniel Millar (Father and understudy Ariel and Tupolski) Carlotta Di Gregori (understudy Mother) and David Angland (Blind Man and understudy Michal and Father). The role of Child 1 is shared by Ruby Siddle, Madelynne Mills and Sophia Cullingford, and the role of Child 2 is shared by Lexi Anna Scott, Darcy Crosby and Lillie Stocker.
Martin McDonagh recently won the Best British Film BAFTA award for his critically-acclaimed movie The Banshees of Inisherin, which also won the Best Screenplay Award at the Venice Film Festival and was nominated for nine Academy Awards. He is also the multi-Olivier, BAFTA and Academy Award-winning playwright and screenwriter responsible for Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri, In Bruges, Seven Psychopaths and Six Shooter.
McDonagh’s Olivier Award-winning Hangmen ran successfully in the West End and on Broadway. His other plays include The Beauty Queen of Leenane, A Skull in Connemara, The Lonesome West, The Lieutenant of Inishmore, The Cripple of Inishmaan, A Behanding in Spokane and A Very Very Very Dark Matter.
Matthew Dunster is a theatre and film director and writer. He has directed or written over sixty shows, often with major national companies (including RSC, NT, Royal Court, Young Vic, Royal Exchange, Shakespeare’s Globe, The Bridge), as well as directing in the West End, on Broadway and internationally. He has been the Associate Director of The Young Vic and Shakespeare’s Globe. Matthew has been nominated for three Olivier Awards and his Broadway production of Hangmen was nominated for five Tony’s.
Duke of York Theatre, St Martin’s Lane, London WC2N 4BG from 10 June to 2 September. Times: Mon-Sat 7.30pm, Wed & Sat matinees at 2.30pm. First Saturday matinee June 17th at 2.30pm. First Wednesday matinee June 21st at 2.00pm. Admission: £20 – £125.
Booking: https://www.atgtickets.com/shows/the-pillowman/duke-of-yorks-theatre – 0333 009 6690
