Beginning as a mysterious and dark crime story, the play turns into a macabre neo-gothic thriller. Several young children were brutally killed, and the way they were killed was described in the short stories of the young writer Katuryan. Even after the killer is revealed, the question remains: who is to blame? Can an artist be blamed for the cruelty of his art? Can art be blamed for "promoting violence and murder"?
The author of the play is Martin McDonagh, a world-renowned contemporary Irish playwright. The play "Pillow" (2003) won the prestigious Olivier and Evening Standard awards and is staged all over the world. Until now, Gintaras Varnas has not worked with the work of Martin McDonagh and this time he chose the work, not the author. "The important thing that determined the choice of the play is the macabre, even morbid, neo-Gothic atmosphere. Sometimes it is not even clear whether some events took place in reality or only in Katuryan's head," says the director. The performance analyzes the relationship between creativity and reality, the importance and influence of creativity, the creator's responsibility for the art he creates.
Gintaras Varnas in "Pagalviny" remains faithful to visual, theatrical theater. The performance features four actors and puppets and masks created by the artist Julia Skuratova, controlled by the actors themselves. The dolls embody the characters of Katurjan's plays - the Pillow's face, a girl Jesus doll, a boy doll made of pillows, and with the help of deformed masks, the actors create the image of their parents. The performances are performed by the graduates of director Gintaras Varnas' second acting course, sometimes fondly called "varniuks".
