THE PILLOWMAN

A play for now...

Concrete Content Presents

THE PILLOW MAN

By Martin McDonagh

Directed by Ricardo Gamboa

Starring Omari Ferrell and Tyran Freeman with Sean James William Parris and Roy Gonzalez

The Pillowman, written by British-Irish playwright Martin McDonagh, is a play that premiered in 2003 at the Royal National Theater in London. Set in a totalitarian state, The Pillowman follows two brothers, Katurian and Michal, who are detained, interrogated and tortured by police when a series of local child murders happen with striking similarities to the gruesome content of Katurian's stories.

Concrete Content has decided to revive this dark and humorous masterpiece to confront our current times because of how The Pillowman reflects our national moment marked by the rise of fascism, a live-streamed genocide full of images of child death, and Chicago's sordid history and ongoing realities of anti-Black police violence. Artist and activist Ricardo Gamboa directs a contemporary take on this play with an immersive, multimedia and site-specific production at Humboldt Park's Africaribe Cultural Center. 

This production of The Pillowman occurs during the ten year anniversary of Chicago's Reparation Ordinance, municipal legislation that orders reparations for survivors of racially motivated police torture, most notably under convicted Chicago Police Department Commander Jon Burge. In collaboration with Chicago Torture Justice Center, this production will host conversations, events and mixers following performances and throughout the run of the show. 

The Deets

Dates: Fridays and Saturdays, March 7-April 12

Show dates 

Friday, March 7, 14, 21, 28; April 4, 11

Saturday, March 8, 15, 22, 29; April 5, 12

EXTENSION DATES!

Friday, April 18, 25

Saturday, April 19, 26

Friday, May 2

Saturday, May 3

NEW DATES!

FRIDAY, MAY 9TH 

SATURDAY, MAY 10TH

Doors open at 6:30. All shows start at 7pm.

All shows at the Africaribe Cultural Center, 2547 West Division Street 

Tickets are by sliding scale donation.

*Grabbed a ticket but cannot make it? Unfortunately, we cannot refund tickets for this show. However, you can reach out to us with an alternative show date with 24 hours notice that you can attend and we can see if there's space available and honor your tickets for that show.