Academy Award winning director Martin McDonagh’s The Pillowman is returning to theatres in London next month, with an impressive cast including Lily Allen and Steve Pemberton.

McDonagh, who holds a dual citizenship for both Ireland and the UK, last year directed the widely acclaimed Banshees of Inisherin, which received nine Academy award nominations, including best director and best original screenplay for McDonagh.

Several Irish actors received Oscar nods for their work in the film, including Colin Farrell for Best Actor, Barry Keoghan and Brendan Gleeson for Best Supporting Actor, and Kerry Condon for Best Supporting Actress. The movie also recently took home the Best Film gong at the Irish Film and Television Awards.

The Pillowman, McDonagh’s sixth ever work for theatre won the Laurence Olivier award for best new play in 2004. It follows a writer, Katurian, who lives in an authoritarian state. In the play she is questioned by police in relation to a series of murders that closely resemble those written in her short stories.

Credit: Rankin.

Katurian is played by Lily Allen, a Grammy Award nominee and BRIT Award winner. The London singer-songwriter has released four albums and headlined four world tours in the last 16 years.

Having turned her hand to acting, she was nominated for a Laurence Olivier Award in 2022 for her debut West End performance in 2:22 a Ghost Story.

Allen’s co-star Steve Pemberton plays Tupolski, the lead detective interrogating Katurian. Pemberton is best known as a member of The League of Gentlemen, and is a three-time BAFTA Award winner.

The cast is completed by Rebecca Lee (Mother and understudy Katurian), Daniel Millar (Father and understudy Ariel and Tupolski) Carlotta Di Gregori (understudy Mother) and David Angland (Blind Man and understudy Michal and Father). The role of Child 1 is shared by Ruby Siddle, Madelynne Mills and Sophia Cullingford, and the role of Child 2 is shared by Lexi Anna Scott, Darcy Crosby and Lillie Stocker.

The production will run at the Duke of York Theatre in London from 10 June to 2 September 2023.

Credit: Rankin.

The West End premiere of The Pillowman is directed by Matthew Dunster, a multiple Olivier and Tony award winning director, who has previously directed several of McDonagh’s plays, including Hangmen and A Very, Very, Very Dark Matter.

McDonagh's other plays include Beauty Queen of Leenane, A Skull in Connemara, The Lonesome West, The Lieutenant of Inishmore, The Cripple of Inishmaan and A Behanding in Spokane.

The 53-year-old Camberwell native has worked as a director, screen-writer and playwright, and is also responsible for films such as In Bruges, Three billboards Outside Ebbing Missouri, Seven Psychopaths, and Six Shooter.

Information about McDonagh's upcoming show is available here.