Does violence inspire art or does art inspire violence?

It's an age-old question being asked in the Ephrata Performing Art Center's production of "Pillowman," which opens tonight.

But if you think "The Pillowman" is going to be a dry dissertation, or offer up easy answers, think again.

"To me, the show is a hall of mirrors," says Ed Fernandez, who is directing the show. "You think you know where it is going, but Martin McDonagh (the playwright) screws you and turns it around."

Fernandez compares the show to "theatrical jazz."

"It's a very polarizing play. Either you dig it and you get it or you don't," he says.

"I like stuff that lifts the veil of politically correct grayness we all live in," he adds. "Be prepared for a roller coaster ride, because this show pushes buttons on purpose."

The story is dark, black and funny. When the show ran on Broadway in 2005, it earned a number of awards, including the Drama Critics Circle Award for best play. A year earlier in England, it won the Olivier Award for best play.

"It's going to be a scary show," says Sean Young, who is starring in his first non-musical role at EPAC. "You are going to laugh and think, 'Oh my God, I can't believe I laughed at that.'"

Think Quentin Tarantino meets Kafka.

Set in some unnamed Eastern European country, it's about Katurian (Tim Riggs), a slaughterhouse worker (he only cleans there, he doesn't kill) who goes home at night and writes grim, highly disturbing stories.

He's hauled in by the police because some of his stories have similarities to a series of gruesome child murders.

Young plays his lead interrogator, Tupolski.

"The detective is an interesting guy," Young says. "If you go too far with the comedy and the sarcasm, it becomes a spoof. You have to reveal just enough."

Clearly, Tupolski thinks he's the smartest guy in the room until he begins interrogating Katurian and realizes he's got a worthwhile adversary, Young says.

Katurian denies he's murdered anyone.

He's only a storyteller telling a story.

But does he have a moral obligation in telling those stories? Does the artist have any responsibility when someone takes his art down a dark path to murder?

Things get complicated in "The Pillowman" because Katurian has a younger brother who is mentally disturbed and may be the murderer.

Riggs and Young have different acting styles and that presents different challenges for them, according to their director.

"The show is very stylized. It's European roots are in 'Waiting for Godot,' and Ianesco and the theater of the ridiculous," Fernandez explains.

"Tim comes from a very naturalistic place, so it was a little more difficult for him. We had to work on the style."

"Even in auditions, Ed cautioned me against going too dark," Riggs says. "I don't get to do enough stylistic pieces. Through my training, I start from a very internal place. I really look forward to the challenge."

 Young, who cut his teeth on musical theater, especially Sondheim, is used to stylized performances. The challenge was sustaining the through line of the story.

"You have to deal with sustaining that for a long period of time," Fernandez says. "That is very hard work. In a musical, you follow it through until a song comes along that tells you how to feel. You don't have the songs here."

Not that musicals are less demanding.

"If you can do a musical, you can do Shakespeare," Fernandez says. "He tells you what to feel, just like a song does."

"That's the beauty of Sondheim," Young says. "He writes like Shakespeare, he writes the notes and the emotions. Rodgers and Hammerstein is the same way."

But we're not in Rodgers-and-Hammerstein land with "Pillowman."

It's more like The Brothers Grimm and Stephen King.

Young decided to jump into drama because he didn't feel he fit any of the musical roles being done this season. And, he's soon turning 39.

"I realized you can't play Tony in 'West Side Story' when you're 40," he says. "You have to look at what is reasonable. This show is an opportunity to grow, to do something different."

"The Pillowman''
Not for children under 17
Opens tonight. Through March 15
Tonight-Sat. 8 p.m.
March 12-14, 8 p.m.
March 15, 2 and 8 p.m. $22-$25
Ephrata Performing Arts Center
Tom Grater Memorial Park
Ephrata, 733-7966
www.ephrataperformingartscenter.com

CONTACT US: jholahan@LNPnews.com or 481-6016