The Pillowman Summary
Martin McDonagh

The Pillowman Overview

The Pillowman is a play about a writer named Katurian with a dark past falsely accused of the grisly murder of three local children. Set in an interrogation room within a totalitarian dictatorship in which literature is given strict guidelines to which it must adhere, Katurian first believes that he is being targeted for his writing. But, as the action unfolds, he discovers that his mentally impaired brother who sacrificed everything for him and his art has gotten the both of them tangled up in a mess. Throughout the play, sacrifice, abuse, truth, book burnings, and storytelling are explored.