The Pillowman

An extremely dark and dangerous play by Martin McDonagh gets an extremely dark and dangerous production by Big Idea. Katurian (Benjamin T. Ismail) writes gruesome stories in which children are tortured and killed; when a rash of just that kind of murder occurs, he’s hauled in for interrogation by good cop Tupolski (Brian Harrower) and bad cop Ariel (Scott Divine), and he can hear the screams of his brother Michal (Shawn B. O’Neal) from the next cell. Secrets, torture, authorial pride and storytelling are the themes in this play that is recommended for mature audiences only. Th, F, Sa 8pm; Su 2:30pm. Through 10/15. $10-$15. Big Idea Theatre, 1616 Del Paso Blvd.; (916) 960-3036; www.bigideatheatre.com.