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How I Envision The Pillowman Act 1, Scene 1

Lighting

When researching interrogation rooms and the interior of police stations (both in media and in real life), many of the images I found show them lit by very cool toned (often blue) light. In media particularly, the main light of the room is often dim, which makes the atmosphere more uncomfortable for the suspect. For example;

Additionally, during interrogation scenes throughout media, it’s very common for the person being questioned to have a light/lamp of some sort pointed directly at them. For example;

These lights are used to make those detained uncomfortable and thus more likely to spill the information they know in order to get the bright light out of their eyes.

This technique seemed like something Detectives Ariel and Tupolski would likely use. They have no issues with physically assaulting/torturing prisoners to get what they want out of them so I believe these lower level discomforts wouldn't be uncommon in their interrogation techniques.

I think the best ways to include this in a production would be by putting a lamp on stage , or by having a white/cool toned spotlight on Katurian's face.

Set

Interrogation rooms are often very bare, usually having no more than a table and chairs inside. I think this is partly for convenience and practicality, but also to make the person being questions uncomfortable in their surroundings as the rooms are very sterile and contain nothing that could have comfortable connotations for the detained. even the furniture which is used in these rooms is very bland and often made of plain wood or steel. this creates tension as there is nothing (such a pillows, warm lamps etc)that can be used to ground or comfort the person being questioned.

I have also noticed that these rooms are often painted cool toned colours such as blue and grey. I believe this is because warm colours have connotations of cosiness, warmth, and comfort - which is the opposite of what detective are often aiming to communicate.

There’s also often viewing windows looking into the rooms (as seen in the picture above). However, I do not think that there would be any of these in the station which Ariel and Tupolski work in. This is because in this play, the police are often extremely violent and treat detainees inhumanly. Thus, they would not want there to be witnesses of this happening because that could cause problems. As long as no one catches them doing it, they are guaranteed to get away with it. (That being said, The Pillowman is set in a fascist totalitarian state so i'm not sure someone seeing it would ake a difference)

With this in mind, i sketched a rough outline of what i believe would be a good set for this scene.

Costume, Hair and Makeup

(imagined for an all female cast)

Ariel

Ariel is very passionate about their job. This often leads to or is expressed through violence and brutality. They are treated as less than Tupolski, as if they exists solely to do the dirty work. Despite having the title of "detective" Tuplski regularly calls them a policeman, and compares them to a police dog. Their main focus is to make sure people who commit crimes suffer for it and guaranteeing they do not get the chance to commit those crimes again. This stems from the lack of justice they got in terms of their childhood abuse. Because of their motives, I believe they are not concerned about vanity, and the way they dress/present themselves is mostly based on practicality.

below are images of a costume i think fits Ariel, as well as how they would do their hair/makeup.

(i don’t own black laces but let’s pretend they’re black)

I paired together a blue short sleeve shirt and black trousers as blue and black are the main colours associated with the police (especially in media). This represents that they are seen as less than tupolski. I chose short sleeves as they are less formal than long sleeves, which I think fits Ariel's character, and they would allow Ariel to attack suspects without ruining their clothes as most of the harm they do is with their fists.

I think Ariel would either have short hair, or would keep their hair tied back at all times because even if it aesthetically would look better down, it would get in the way whilst they were working.

I don't think Ariel would wear makeup. They wouldn’t waste their time on it. However, I think it would be interesting to use makeup unless to give them dark circles to make reference to their monologue in which they say they have nightmares often.

Tupolski

Tupolski acts likes they’re above Ariel, and are much more of a “professional” and sophisticated. This later on is shown to not actually be true as they are the one who in the end performs the execution, and they seem to draw the most genuine pleasure in hurting other people. To me, Tupolski is in this job very much because of the power it provides them rather than a drive to do good or to find justice. This is a direct example of the blatant police brutality and corruption of the totalitarian state the play is set in.

I believe that Tupolski would dress much more put together and polished in order to appear as someone professional and communicate their position of power. below are pictures of a costume I think would work for Tupolski.

I looked into business attire, and clothes worn by women in power. I found that plaid, especially grey based plaid, is very common in this type of clothing. I also found that blazers/coats with lapels were very common too. for this reason I decided to give Tupolski this full length coat as part of their costume. I gave Tupolski heels here because I believe the extra height they give will communicate that they are of a higher status than Ariel, but also because heels are generally seen as a work/business shoe.

As for makeup; I looked at a variety of detectives and professional women across media (e.g. Rachel from suits, Nikki from silent witness) and found that their makeup is usually quite natural, using a lot of neutral tones to enhance the persons features subtlety so as to make them look more polished.

in the image above I used very natural colours to create a soft eyeshadow look and sole subtle bronzer, blush and highlighter to emphasise the structure of my face and give my cheeks a healthy glow. To me this would work well for Tupolski as they are a very nonchalant person so I don’t think they’d want to look as if they’d tried hard to look good, but this makeup would make them appear more professional and put together than Ariel which is something they take great joy in pointing out.

Katurian

Immediately when looking into styles for Katurian, I was drawn to dark academia. In its barest bones the dark academia style revolves around 1930s academia and a love for literature. (and often murder). This style is heavily featured in films such as “Kill Your Darlings” and “Dead Poets Society”.

Katurian is a man who’s life and identity revolves so wholly around his writing and his love for words, and whether he likes it or not there ends up being multiple murders linked to him and his work. Thus, this style seemed perfect to base his costume on.

(ideally i would have put a cream/white blouse under the jumper but i don’t own one)

In this image I’m wearing cigarette pants, which are a very common style of trouser within dark academia. I think the wine red/burgundy of my jumper and shoes fits well to the colour scheme of this style, too. I think making Katurian's costume in this style gives away a lot about their character from the get go, as it’s a style with very distinct connotations.

As well as thinking that this style generally suits Katurian's character very well, I think this works as a costume for them as it is more casual that both Ariel and Tupolski's still. This helps enforce the idea that they both have a higher status than him.

I see Katurian as very scrawny and almost gaunt. They also strike me as someone who spends most of the time in which they should be sleeping or eating, writing instead. They also seem to be a very paranoid person. I based my makeup for this character on these ideas and, where for Tupolski and Ariel makeup was an aesthetic choice (or lack thereof), Katurian's makeup is used to really make them look pathetic and small as I think this will help this scene have maximum affect.

I used heavy amounts of contour to really emphasise the hollows of the cheekbones to make myself look gaunt. I also applied a mix of brown and purple shadow under my eyes to create the appearance of really severe dark circles. this adds to the weak and sickly look when paired with the contour but also suggests he does not get a lot of sleep, which will make more sense later on in the play when we see how paranoid he is.

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link to pinterest board where i’ve collected some inspiration pictures etc; https://pin.it/1tfoS0s

#thepillowman #martin mcdonagh #katurian #detectivetupolski #detectiveariel #interrogationscene #theatre #straighttheatre #analysis #director #costume #makeup #wigs #actors #plays