The audience takes a seat around a rectangular mesh screen hanging from the roof looking onto a sitting man with a cloth bag over his head. The man is Katurian (Jess Newman), a writer who is suspected to be involved in the murders of three children by the police in an un-named totalitarian state. It slowly becomes obvious that the audience is sitting outside the walls of the room looking in as if they were invisible.

Two policemen, Tupolski and Ariel (Josiah Lulham and Ross Dwyer), walk into the room and begin their questioning. The murders committed are replicating Katurian’s stories, which are simultaneously hauntingly beautiful, yet gruesomely violent against children. Katurian’s brother, Michal (Josh Orpin) confesses to the murders, as the police try to find the third child who may still be alive. However, the play is more about the troubled psyches of each character.

Written by Martin McDonagh, the director of In Bruges and Seven Psychopaths, The Pillowman is a exploration of where stories end and real life begins. As such, Katurian only cares about the wellbeing of his brother and the legacy of his stories, even accepting certain death as long as his stories will be kept safe. However, it becomes evident throughout the play that his stories are closely intertwined with his own experiences. Indeed, every character is somehow impacted by some previous experience, from the volatile and aggressive Ariel who was raped by his father as a child to the drowning of Tupolski’s son. Therefore, each character is essentially forced into stories and clichés to which they can adhere or try to rebel.

Katurian, especially, becomes symbolic of the creative mind itself, as he writes not for commercial success, nor to publicise an agenda, but to understand the suffering of the world which he has been forced into. Indeed, the most important character, although he is not real, is ‘The Pillowman’, a man made out of pillows which goes back in time to convince children who will commit suicide later in life to kill themselves before they have to suffer the sadness which is destined for them. As such, each character is constantly trying to escape from the mental and physical hell in to which they have been thrust, regardless of how futile it may be.

The decision to stage this within a gallery in Collingwood allows for a personal experience within each audience member. Someone on the other side of the room will see something which no one else will see. Therefore, this show will be something else to everybody. To some, it may be an over-exaggerated look at the brutality of mankind, told through a veil of dark humour. One can expect to laugh and feel uncomfortable for doing so. To others, it may be a confronting perspective on the psychological effects of child abuse. Yet, to all, this production is a sensual journey which illustrates the fine line between fiction and fact which will confront the beliefs of the audience.

For those looking for a socially relevant, beautifully gruesome, yet strangely optimistic production, look no further. Full of tangible emotions, a simple, yet effective art style, The Pillowman is a reminder that although the world is full of pain, as long as there is some beauty within one’s life, even for a second, then maybe it is worth living.

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Created and performed solely by Carly Milroy and Harley Hefford, the story focuses on two postal workers, Elma Lady-face and Stanley Man-head as they try and find a way to stop their impending unemployment in a dying industry. Stanley is a simple-minded optimist with a heart of gold, while Elma is the bossy and practical opposite who has great passion for her job, and most of all, for the power of letters. However, they live in the town of Samsung, where everyone drinks protein shakes, you can not get anything for 10 cents at the milk bar and nobody sends letters anymore. Therefore, they come up with a plan to get the town writing to each other again.Yet, as in most absurdist comedies, it all descends into farce quite quickly.

While at its surface, the performance is at times surreal and ridiculous, it is, on a deeper level, a look at the way human beings communicate. Instead of allowing the play to become a call towards returning to the times of old, it is instead concerned with reinvigorating the values of old for today’s technologically-directed generation. From poking fun at Snapchat and Youtube to the newsroom to the domestic home, it does not just show how silly modern methods of communication are, but how absurd communication is in general. Characters, of which there are many, often misunderstand each other, ignore the comments of others and take any words in front of them as fact. Essentially, it transforms in front of your eyes into a meaningless hodge-podge into a constructed story suggesting that people try to talk more, rather than reducing one’s feelings to a symbol on a screen.

The show is filled with an array of characters, all of which are played by Carly and Harley, changing genders and roles within minutes. Characters are really only defined by their occupations, with names like The Courier and The Milk-Bar Owner, as everyone is constantly reduced to gender and cultural stereotypes. As changes are frequent, it is often hard to keep track of who is who. But, it is this almost controlled frantic nature which makes it so fun. When they make a mistake, it is not obvious whether it was intentional because of the lightning-fast improvisation from both of them. The inherent awareness that this is just a show is what makes it so enjoyable. However, the focus of the show is on Stanley and Elma, and it is with them where the talent of both Carly and Harley show.

Being performed in a small room above The Courthouse Hotel, the ability for much movement is limited. But, the duo take in all in their stride, as they jump from musical interlude to different props (often constructed out of paper). With barely any room between them and the first room, it is impressive that they appear both so composed and jumbled. The surreal moments and unexplained breaks into two different Barbra Streisand songs may disorientate some looking for a complete story, but it is much more than what it seems to be. Both Carly and Harley are bound to experience success in both the comedy world and the art world if this show is anything to go by. It is at times hilarious, at times legitimately touching, but overall, a perspective we often forget: that expressing to each other is a unique aspect of our lives and should be more open than it is at the moment.

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Taking place in the Nicholas Building on Swanston Street, people are sent one at a time up the elevator to Level 3, where you are ordered to remain silent by a mute bell-hop and directed to a spot around the elevator shaft. There is a radio in a cupboard playing the sound of someone breathing slowly. If you turn around to look, you are reprimanded by the bell-hop with a blow from a loud whistle. You then traverse the beautifully old-fashioned building in search of “the show” by a girl with loose-fitting clothes (the director Nana Biluš Abaffy) as we meet more characters along the way in many strange ways. What can be distinguished as the main “show” is a pitch-black room depicting a spiritual confrontation between several physical manifestations, one being a man in a flowing dress named Edna.

The show is an adventure which confronts the audience’s idea of art from the very beginning, but it is also a show about lost love, anger, commercialism, suffering, sexuality and the consequences of seeking pleasure. However, beyond this, it is constantly challenging as to what the audience should be doing or where they should be looking. Therefore, beyond the carefully choreographed actions of the performers, the show leaves an indelible mark on the audience for the hours following. One looks at others and themselves as just constructs of the live performance of the hustle and bustle of everyday life. The idea of the physical or real confronting the mental is invoked throughout as you are ordered to follow, stay still and look at a certain thing. Yet, there is always this desire to rebel and do something other than the prescribed way. It is this constant fight between your desire to have fun and the structured nature of the performance which makes it unlike any other piece of art.

The fact that the stage is a real building inhabited by normal citizens just enhance the magic behind the show and the thrill of being part of the group of ‘weirdos’ is a very strange feeling. There is something very dream-like about the building with its industrial exposed wiring and over-bright fluorescent lights, which just adds to the idea that the performance is more of a physical manifestation of spiritual beings. However, unlike a normal play where your attention is naturally drawn towards who ever is talking on the stage, your attention is constantly being pulled in several directions by visual, aural and other mental stimulants.

Admittedly, this show will not be for everyone and epitomises the idea behind the Fringe festival of showing the weird and wonderful of the art world. Indeed, only a very select group of people will consider this worth their time or money. However, this does not diminish the show’s undeniable power, both in physical force between the performers and the abstract ways in which it confronts modern living. While there are moments which are just ‘weird for the sake of being weird’, it is more about the experience than finding any distinct meaning from it. That feeling of being a part of something, rather than just being a passive observer is something so refreshing when compared to everything else, that it is impossible not to appreciate.

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The play, adapted by Alisha Redmond, follows a group of children in the religiously fervent town of Salem, Massachusetts in 1692, as they innocently start a wide-spread hysteria against so-called ‘witches’. Loosely based on the real-life ‘Salem witch trials’, this interpretation takes us behind the pivotal scenes of the original and instead explores the impact that the events have on the children.

In contrast to the original, Abigail’s Coven becomes less about the meaning of truth and how it can be morphed by faith and ideology, but more about the corruption of innocence by our desires. The leader of the pack, Abigail (Charlotte Jones), is especially blinded by her desires to seek revenge against those who have wronged her and eventually, the children join her without being entirely sure why.  Mary Warren (Madeline Kleores), on the other hand, seems to have become so entranced by the lies of witchery in the town that she begins to believe them.

Perhaps, the largest divergence from the original screenplay is the inclusion of several monologues scattered throughout the action. A single spotlight illuminates their faces and the audience seem to be spoken to. Yet, it is not just them speaking to themselves, but their true feelings being manifested in a physical form. What is truly impressive is that all of them were written by the teenagers that performed them. One, for instance, quite profoundly expresses a boy’s (Callum Cheah) heartbreak when the girl he thought loved him wants another man.

It is obvious that these teenagers have truly connected with each of their characters and there is something so unfettered about their acting. It is this naturalistic way that the children conduct themselves around such a dark subject matter which allows the audience to feel more at ease. Although, there are times where the children give a very real and adult reaction to the events of the play.  It is here where the essential dialectic between the untouched happiness of childhood and the absurdity of man, law and religion emanate.

While it may be jarring for those aware of the original to have major scenes happen off-stage or be referred to off-hand, it is a necessary decision so that the children’s reactions can be captured.  However, this shortening of the play naturally leaves certain essential facts rushed over or not touched on at all and therefore, often does not confront the themes head-on. Regardless, the play is very enjoyable, as the focus is less on the exact details of the plot and more on the overall thematic and character-based arcs. However, it does not get bogged down in the philosophy or psychology of The Crucible and just allows for the passion of the action to shine through.

While it is only one piece of a whole, Abigail’s Coven is a fun and modern take on a classic play. For anyone completely unfamiliar with the original, this would be an interesting introduction, full of childish wonder amongst some very dark themes and a simplistic style.  Yet, it is the acting which stands out as the star and the innocence of childhood both expressed within the play and without it.

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