Lumen Repertory Theatre will present “The Pillowman” by Martin McDonagh, directed by Joshua Britton Andrews, as the second production of its 2026 season. Performances run April 24 through May 9 at WJCT Studio B, with tickets on sale now.
Widely regarded as one of the most gripping and provocative plays of the contemporary stage, “The Pillowman” is a darkly comic psychological thriller about storytelling, state power, cruelty, imagination and the dangerous afterlife of art. At once brutal, funny and deeply human, McDonagh’s play confronts the uneasy relationship between creative freedom and moral consequence. One of the most celebrated voices in contemporary theatre and film, McDonagh is also known to broad audiences for acclaimed films including “In Bruges,” “Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri” and “The Banshees of Inisherin.”
Lumen Rep’s production features Trevor Kluckman, Katie Johnston, Daniel Austin and Kate McManus. Johnston and McManus are already well known to Lumen Rep audiences and have also served as part of the company’s core creative team. Kluckman and Austin are newcomers to Lumen Rep, joining the production as high-caliber additions to the company’s artistic circle.
In “The Pillowman,” set in a totalitarian state, a fiction writer is brought in for interrogation when a series of disturbing crimes begin to echo the violent content of his stories. As the investigation deepens, the play moves into unnerving and unexpectedly moving territory, raising questions about censorship, authorship, trauma and whether stories merely reflect the world or help shape it. And it raises the ultimate question: What do we owe to the truth?
“The Pillowman is one of the most electrifying and unsettling plays of the last few decades,” said Brian Niece, artistic director of Lumen Repertory Theatre. “It is fiercely intelligent, theatrically daring and full of the kinds of questions that great theatre should force us to confront. For a season built around the theme ‘Challenging,’ this piece is a powerful fit.”
Directed by Joshua Britton Andrews, the production continues Lumen Rep’s mission of producing bold, professional theatre in Jacksonville that invites audiences into meaningful engagement with complex and essential works.
A Pay-What-You-Please Preview Performance will take place at 7:30 p.m. Thursday, April 23, offering audiences an affordable first chance to experience the production.
As with all productions in Lumen Rep’s 2026 season, audiences are invited to continue the experience after each performance at the Afterglow, the company’s informal post-show gathering space for conversation and connection. Concessions remain open and patrons can mingle and converse with cast and creative crew.
All performances are at 7:30 p.m., unless otherwise noted, at WJCT Studio B:
Tickets & Access:
As Northeast Florida’s only Actors’ Equity-affiliated professional nonprofit theatre company, Lumen Rep remains committed to paying artists fair wages while expanding access to bold, challenging theatre. “The Pillowman” embodies that mission, inviting audiences into a gripping confrontation with storytelling, censorship and the moral consequences of artistic creation.
