Past Production Stills

These are some still images of past productions of The Pillowman that really stood out to me;

(These aren't intended to push theatrical or design related ideas from past productions but to serve as more of a tool to open your mind to more possibilities, or at least thats what they did for me, take from it what you will)

Past Production Poster Art Bank

I was looking through pictures of flyers for past productions of The Pillowman and thought that these might spur some creative ideas, I included a couple of the more simplistic/minimalist posters I found as well as was mentioned in the post below entitled "Poster Art Concepts".

Interrogation Room Photobank

Storytelling/Theme Picture Bank

In response to a couple of the other photo banks people had I did some research into some specific artists and art pieces that really reminded me of the Pillowman and began to give me artistic ideas about a lot of the story telling and imagery, I hope they do the same for you.

Robert Carter;

Arno Mohr;

Jasinski;

Letting Go Starts The Healing;

When You Need A Friend;

Tamille;

Monstros e Baloes;

Akira Kirai;

Crying;

Fallen Angel;

Fear;

Andoledius;

The Witches;

Magic Paintbrush;

Altair;

Puppet Not;

Guilty Is Fun;

Sean Wolfe Connelly;

Comprehensive Property Lists Based On Scene And Set

(Bold Indicates That The Props Should Be Present For Any Scene Taking Place In That Specific Setting)

ACT 1, SCENE 1; Interrogation Room;

• Blindfold

•Cigarettes (ARIEL)

• Pen (TUPOLSKI)

• Metal Box (Size of a biscuit tin)

• Bloody Cloth (ARIEL'S HAND)

•Five Bloody Toes

• Table

•3 Wooden Chairs

•Filebox Containing Papers

• Cabinet

• Desk

ACT 1, SCENE 2; Katurians Childhood Bedroom/Michals Room

• Note in red writing

• Axe (KATURIAN)

•Tape Recorder (PARENTS, behind the wall)

•Mattress (MICHAL)

• Lighter

• Electrical Cord

• Pillow (KATURIAN, to suffocate parents)

• Bed

• Toys

• Paints

• Pens

• Papers

•Children's Books

•Padlock for Michal's Room

(There is a short sequence within ACT 1, SCENE 2, which I am not sure of how it will be portrayed, or if it will be present at all; P.23 "In the nightmare semi-dark of the adjoining room, it appears for a secondas if a child of eight , strapped to the bed, is being tortured with drills and sparks"

If this sequence is present the props list will be as follows;

•Straps For Michals Bed

• Drills

• Sparks

ACT 2, SCENE 1; Jail Cell

•Wooden Chair

• Blanket

•Thin Mattress

• Pillow

• Blood

ACT 2, SCENE 2; The Little Jesus

•Fake Beard (Little Jesus Girl)

•Sandals (Little Jesus Girl)

•Objects T o Bless

• Dust

•Crown made of barbed wire and thorns

•Whip (Cat of nine tails whip)

•Heavy Cross

•Glass Coffin

• Shovel

ACT 3; Interrogation Room

•Paper/Pen (KATURIAN)

• Battery/Electrodes

• Matches

•Black Hood

• Gun

•Cigarettes (ARIEL)

•Lighter Fluid

• Blood

• Table

•3 Wooden Chairs

•Filebox Containing Papers

• Cabinet

• Desk

Ariel

In response to Maxwell's Tupolski pictures I went looking for photos that would help cultivate creative thought about the character of Ariel, who we see smoking cigarettes throughout the entire book (though I am not sure if it has been decided if this will be incorporated or not).

Either way, here are some ideas on the character of Ariel;

Lost Boys - Orson Scott Card

When reading through the Pillowman I was reminded of another book I had read a few years back, Lost Boys, By Orson Scott Card. Lost Boys seems to hold a lot of the same themes as The Pillowman. The book centers a family who moves into a house nearby a serial child molester, as the father does all he can to prevent his young daughter from being molested the family neglects their eight year old son, Stevie. Stevie begins making imaginary friends and giving them very specific names. Shortly after which their names were posted in the paper as living missing young boys. The parents immediately contact the police to investigate and interview their son about the missing young men. However, after being sent outside the house by himself to set up the Christmas lights everyone is surprised to find that Stevie's friends are no longer imaginary. The parents can now see all the lost boys standing beside Stevie, and this is when we come to terms with the fact that for the split second the parents were not watching Stevie, he was killed, making all of his friends the ghosts of young boys who have been murdered. When the police arrive they find eight child size graves, amongst which Stevie's was the last buried underneath the house the family had moved into.

Lost Boys Wikipedia

In addition to the fact that both stories are so playfully gruesome one of the most common themes that I saw between the two stories was that we must not believe everything we hear and see. That our senses fool us into believing what we are told is real must be real or vice versa in that things may just be too out of the ordinary to be real at all, when in all reality they are. I juxtaposed this back to a specific quote from Pillowman;

"KATURIAN. A man comes into your room, says, 'Your mother's dead,' yeah?

MICHAL. I know my mothers dead.

KATURIAN. No, I know, but in a story. A man comes in to a room, says to another man, 'Your mother's dead.' What do we know? Do we know that the second man's mother is dead?

MICHAL. Yes.

KATURIAN. No, we don't.

MICHAL. No, we don't.

KATURIAN. All we know is that a man has come into a room and said to another man, 'Your mother is dead.' That is all we know. First rule of storytelling. 'Don't believe everything you read in the papers."

The cover art from The Mars Volta's "Deloused in the Comatorium."  Cover art so often provokes a theme or feeling for the album, and this is no exception.  The clinical, metallic, torture chamber environment juxtaposing with the...uh...beam shooting golden head, is interesting.

http://www.veoh.com/watch/v4237143M6Ff9rAT  

(A creepy but kinda cute claymation.)

 

The Simpsons.  Homer builds Bart this bed.  Bart's response? "Can't sleep.  Clown'll eat me."  Silly, yes, but childhood fears run deep.

Case in point...

A neat contrast between a dreamland and a mechanical nightmare from The City of Lost Children.  This move has some neat stuff, design wise.  Lots of cruelty to children, all set in this dystopian, steampunk wonderland.

For a few dollars more...

Aside from this just being an awesome movie that everyone should be required to see, this scene has a good understanding of pacing and scoring. Sam - this is a different sound than the children of men video I sent you, or some of the stuff you posted, but I think there are elements that can be utilized (we'll talk). MAX - we've been talking about how there are two Tupolskis - the man he is and the man he wants others to think he is. I think there's some Clint (or attempted Clint) in the latter version.

the destructive spirit of retribution > brought low, he will speak from the ground; > his speech will mumble out of the dust. > his voice will come ghostlike from the earth; > out of the dust his speech will whisper.

Poster Art Concepts

Hey,

So here are some concepts that I want to utilize for the advertising posters. I'm particularly interested in using minimalist graphic design, especially for this play. I'm also particularly interested in using a very limited pallet of colors. Similar to how the audition poster was only black and white with a small amount of red for the smile on the pillow. Here are some images with those thoughts in mind.

Tupolski

Ben's pictures inspired me to do a little exploring, here's what I found.