The Players' new grisly play questions what can and can't be written

That's the premise of The Pillowman - a new staging of which is coming to the Earl Arts Centre in April, courtesy of The Launceston Players - a work of grisly subject matter, revelations and, funnily enough, humour.

Written by British-Irish playwright Martin McDonagh - now a big screen titan with credits directing and writing Oscar-nominated films like In Bruges - the blackly comedic work is reviving with an all-local cast and crew, helmed by director Mitchell Langley.

"It's an incredibly special piece," Mr Langley said ahead of Pillowman's five-show run starting April 24.

"It's widely regarded in a lot of writing and theatre circles as one of the best plays written in many, many, many decades. That's a lot of pressure, but with its themes, it's an important and really great moment to do it."

Pillowman - which won the Laurence Olivier Award for Best New Play on premiere in 2003 - has often been lauded for its writing, and its commentary on the craft itself and the price of freedom of expression.

"It's so clever with its dialogue but also with this overarching theme of censorship," Mr Langley said.

"This writer, an artist, is really questioned and really drilled about what he can and can't write and the impacts of what that has on society. That's still relevant today."

The show dips between its fact and fiction, recounting many of its persecuted writer's stories through narration and reenactment before jumping back to the interrogations at police headquarters.

The Players' production stars Lyndon Riggall as Katurian, the writer; Travis Hennessy plays "good cop" Tupolski; Lauchy Hansen in the role of the violent officer Ariel; and Jesse Apted as Katurian's brother, Michal.

The reenactment scenes of Katurian's stories feature Renee Bakker as the mother and Michael Mason as the father, while Eva Cetti takes on dual roles as boy and girl.

Mr Langley was inspired to bring the show back to Launceston, this time with the Players, after seeing a staging 14 years ago during drama school, and he isn't the only one.

Hennessy - who starred as Katurian in that show almost a decade ago - has returned in a new role, while Jeff Hockley, who played Hennessy's role all those years ago, is producing the show.

"I think that demonstrates how impressive a show that is; how it gets under your skin," Mr Langley said.

The Launceston Players' production of The Pillowman arrives at the Earl Arts Centre on April 24. More information and tickets can be found at the Theatre North website.