The Pillowman (West End) London Reviews and Tickets
Show-Score Member Reviews (47)
See it if you enjoy clever narratives
Don't see it if you dislike dark and intense plays
See it if You like Martin McDonagh's movies and the subject of his stories. This is not for the light hearted ones
Don't see it if You get disturbed easily
See it if you like the story within a story concept and like innovative staging or are a fan of dystopia and clever short stories
Don't see it if you don't want to see policemen beating up a woman elicit laughs from the audience or dislike the supporting cast being better than the lead Read more
See it if You're a fan of Lily Allen
Don't see it if Not a good production of this play, was really disappointed. It was confusing.
See it if you’re not against a little strangeness and would love to see a good thriller in a theatre
Don't see it if you get bored easily and like shorter plays. also, if you’re a big fan of an original story, cause this adaptation is quite original
See it if you are intrigued by the disturbing storyline. i saw lily allen in it and she was incredible.
Don't see it if you are easily disturbed my intense and realistic plots.
See it if You like a darker, comedic play.
Don't see it if You don't like darker themes definitely look at the trigger warnings.
See it if You like dark plays
Don't see it if You may be triggered
Critic Reviews (14)
"The complexity of the play could result in disaster, but Dunster’s impeccable directing means the audience can’t help but remain gripped throughout."
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"Allen... is compulsively watchable: drawn, intense, angular. But this show requires a juggling of emotional states she can’t quite muster... [regardless] McDonagh’s play remains brightly hilarious even at its darkest moments."
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“There is a potentially explosive brilliance in this play, but its many ideas do not make a coherent whole here.”
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“For all its rhetorical flourishes, ‘The Pillowman’ is a shallow exercise in Grand Guignol, laced with spurious meditations on the nature of art and creativity.”
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“Martin McDonagh’s ‘The Pillowman’ is dark as ink, a fascinating defence of the power of the imagination and the freedom of the writer that shocks and unsettles with virtually every word...I’d never seen ‘The Pillowman’ before but had been assured by admirers of its quality. On this showing, it emerges as a clever, resilient piece of writing but less profound than perhaps it hopes to be.”
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“Sharply funny, gasp-inducing and richly thought-provoking, this is a bold, uncompromising drama that startlingly interrogates its own artistic medium.”
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“It is gut-twistingly arresting and morbidly funny – McDonagh’s hallmark queasy combination – but it also feels naggingly glib.”
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Matthew Dunster’s production of The Pillowman, is a masterpiece of dark comedy. It may not always be an easy watch but it serves up a delicious take on what it means to be a writer, and to believe in your own abilities above all else
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