Martin McDonagh

El Hombre Almohada (The Pillowman) tiene lugar en un estado totalitario, donde un escritor es interrogado sobre el parecido de sus atroces relatos con el asesinato de varios niños. Es un thriller de suspense grotesco, hilarante y macabro, que reflexiona sobre el abuso de poder, la violencia o la justicia; una pieza metaficcional, con giros inesperados, sobre la invencion de ficciones que dramatizan y suplantan la realidad. Con un estilo marcado por Tarantino, Pinter, Stoppard, Kafka, Borges y los hermanos Grimm, El Hombre Almohada es una de las obras mas exitosas e inquietantes del aclamado dramaturgo y cineasta angloirlandes Martin McDonagh. Estrenada en 2003 en la Cottlesloe del Nacional Theatre de Londres y galardonada con el Laurence Olivier 2004 a la mejor obra de teatro y el New York Drama Critics& x02019; Circle Awarda2005 aala mejor obra extranjera, ha sido representada con exito de publico y critica en paises de todo el mundo.

En un estado totalitario sin nombre, dos policías interrogan al escritor Katurian K. Katurian acerca de una serie de repugnantes crímenes infantiles cometidos por un malhechor desconocido. Al principio, Katurian no se da cuenta de que es el principal sospechoso , debido a que los crímenes son idénticos a las historias narradas por él . Mientras que Tupolski, el policía buen, y Ariel , el malo , torturan al escritor para que confiese, éste insiste reiteradamente en su inocencia. Cuando le comentan que tienen a su hermano retrasado y que pronto lo van a interrogar de la misma cruel y violenta manera., Katurian les pide una oportunidad para hablar con su hermano. Lo que ocurre es esta tensa escena, provoca un giro inesperado que da lugar a que cuando el joven escritor vuelva, esté dispuesto a confesar todo, con la condición de que no destruyan sus historias.

Martin McDonagh's plays have been produced in Galway, Dublin, London and New York. They have created excitement and have won numerous awards. In individual editions the plays have been among Methuen's most popular sellers. 'Martin McDonagh's The Leenane Trilogy, one of the great events of the contemporary Irish theatre' (Irish Times). This volume contains: The Beauty Queen of Leenane - 'McDonagh's writing is pitiless but compassionate: he casts a cold, hard, but understanding eye on relationships made of mistrust, hesitation, resentment and malevolence' (Sunday Times); A Skull in Connemara - 'Here, McDonagh's gift is at its most naked and infectious ...it leaves you giddy with gruesome exhilaration' (Financial Times); The Lonesome West: 'The play combines manic energy and physical violence in a way that is both hilarious and viscerally exciting' (Daily Telegraph)"A star is born, bright and blazing, confident, individual and shockingly accomplished" (Sunday Times)

This Student Edition of Martin McDonagh's The Beauty Queen of Leenane features expert and helpful annotation, including a scene-by-scene summary, a detailed commentary on the dramatic, social and political context, and on the themes, characters, language and structure of the play, as well a list of suggested reading and questions for further study and a review of performance history. Set in the mountains of Connemara, County Galway, The Beauty Queen of Leenane tells the darkly comic tale of Maureen Folan, a plain and lonely spinster in her early forties, and Mag her devilishly manipulative ageing mother whose interference in Maureen's first and potentially last loving relationship sets in motion a train of events that is as gothically funny as it is horrific. Maureen might long for the romance that will spirit her away, but if she goes, who will stir the lumps out of Mag's Complan?

The Beauty Queen of Leenane was first presented as a Druid Theatre/Royal Court Theatre co-production in January 1996. Set in the mountains of Connemara, County Galway, The Beauty Queen of Leenane tells the darkly comic tale of Maureen Folan, a plain and lonely woman in her early forties, and Mag her manipulative ageing mother whose interference in Maureen's first and potentially last loving relationship sets in motion a train of events that is as gothically funny as it is horrific.

"Mr McDonagh is destined to be one of the theatrical luminaries of the 21st century" (The New Republic) In 1934, the people of Inishman learn that the Hollywood director Robert Flaherty is coming to the neighbouring island to film his documentary Man of Aran. No-one is more excited than Cripple Billy, an unloved boy whose chief occupation has been gazing at cows and yearning for a girl who wants no part of him. For Billy is determined to cross the sea and audition for the Yank. And as news of his audacity ripples thorugh his rumour-starved community, The Cripple of Inishmaan becomes a merciless portrayal of a world so comically cramped and mean-spirited that hope is an affront to its order. With this bleak yet uproariously funny play, the young Anglo-Irish dramatist Martin McDonagh fulfills the promise of his award-winning The Beauty Queen of Leenane while confirming his place in a tradition that extends from Synge to O'Casey and Brendan Behan.