Quotable Quotes: Swapping Stories with the Cast of The Pillowman

WHO: The cast and director of Broadway's The Pillowman

WHAT: Opening night

WHERE: Opening night party at Stella Osteria

WHEN: April 10, 2005

"It's really thrilling and exciting because I think New York audiences love [playwright Martin McDonagh's] work. It took us a long time to cast it, but I think as you can see, we got it right with these four guys." --Director John Crowley on casting the play

"The first thing I saw was the writing and the truly extraordinary nature of the craft that [Martin McDonagh] was employing." --Billy Crudup on his reaction after reading the script for the first time

"It's a great story. You don't know what's going to happen and it's always interesting and smart and unexpected and surprising. And then, shocking, brutal, terrifying, kind of touching and hilarious and outrageous, so that's pretty good. I loved it right away." --Jeff Goldblum on his initial reaction of the play

"The show is reminiscent of those stories we were told when we were growing up." --Michael Stuhlbarg on the power of storytelling in the play

"It was just such a thrill and a theatrical play. I didn't think about myself doing it. I didn't think I was right for any of the parts." --Zeljko Ivanek on watching the its West End run

"If you simply play it, without coloring it with all sorts of nuanced choices, it takes you where you need to go. There are not many writers that can do that very well." --Billy Crudup

"I think that the cruelty and humor go hand and hand in this play." --John Crowley

"It's always surprising, and they're really taken on a spectacular ride." --Jeff Goldblum on what the audience experiences during the play

"It's one of those roles that you can jump in and you can do anything and I just try to feel free to do that." --Michael Stuhlbarg on being uninhibited in the role of Michal

"I think it's so much better if you know nothing going in because it takes so many twists and turns. That is what's most thrilling to me." --Zeljko Ivanek on what he feels audiences should know before watching the play

"You'll see when you talk to them. Scary. I don't have to do much. I just come to work, and they scare the pants off me. Not literally. My pants don't come off." --Billy Crudup on being with co-stars Zeljko Ivanek and Jeff Goldblum, who interrogate him in the play

"It was a great challenge. I'm really pleased with the solution we came up with." --John Crowley on creating visual effects for the many stories in the play

"I just can't say enough about them. I think they are so fantastic."--Jeff Goldblum on his co-stars

"Getting a chance to actually work together has been a real treat. [Billy Crudup] is amazing. I couldn't ask for a better partner. What we get to do together is wonderful." --Michael Stuhlbarg on being onstage with longtime friend Billy Crudup, who plays his brother in the piece

"They're hilarious. They're amazing-those kids. [Madeleine Martin] is incredible. She's the oldest soul I've ever met in a 12 year old. And [Jesse Shane Brownstein] is also such a theater kid, but so, so smart. They don't seem like kids back there." --Zeljko Ivanek on working with the children in the play

"They have a real mythic quality to them. And as dark and perhaps as disturbing as they can be, they're also really engaging and really exciting." --Michael Stuhlbarg on the stories in the play

"My friends came to see me actually. I mean, we told them that there was like bad language and stuff, but they still came to see it and they liked it. They were scared, but they still loved it."--Madeleine Martin on her friends' reactions to the play

"I've played scary people but more kind of intellectually scary people--this was much more physical." --Zeljko Ivanek on his character

"It is a very dark, twisted, funny tale. No more. Anything more you just won't get it." --John Crowley on describing the show

"I don't even know what it's about. I just remember what an experience it was for me seeing it." --Zeljko Ivanek

"It's interesting being green and stuff." --Madeleine Martin on her character

"The less you know about it, the better because then you can be surprised by the twists and turns that happen." --Michael Stuhlbarg on what audiences should expect from the play

Interviews by Beth Stevens
Compiled by Grace Hernandez