Kafka meets the Brothers Grimm in this haunting drama set in an unnamed totalitarian state. A writer is detained after the gruesome content of his short stories begins to be acted out in real life. Is he responsible for his words as well as the deeds they inspire? The answer is an urgent work of theatrical bravura and an unflinching examination of the very nature and purpose of art. "Energizing...a blindingly bright black comedy...[what makes] the unsettling and exhilarating new play from Mr. McDonagh...so gripping as theater is how narrative art becomes the play's and the character's very life blood." --NY Times "[McDonagh is] a dangerously prodigious master of theatrical form with a talent that goes far deeper than most people understand...THE PILLOWMAN [is] thoroughly startling and genuinely intimidating." --Chicago Tribune "McDonagh's least forgiving, bravest play." --Variety "A complex tale about life and art, about fact and illusion, about politics, society, cruelty and creativity." --Financial Times