The Pillowman to play in the West End with Aaron Taylor-Johnson cast

Martin McDonagh's ⁦Olivier Award-winning play The Pillowman will come into the West End with Aaron Taylor-Johnson and Steve Pemberton in the lead roles, it was announced today.

Directed by Matthew Dunster (Hangmen, A Very Very Very Dark Matter), the play tells the story of a writer questioned by authorities about a series of murders that bear similarities to his short stories. This production will star Taylor-Johnson (Kick-Ass, Avengers: Age of Ultron) as Katurian and Pemberton (The League of Gentlemen, Benidorm) as Tupolski, with set and costume design by Anna Fleischle, sound design by Ian Dickinson and casting by Amy Ballfur. Further casting is to be announced at a later date.

The West End show will run at the Duke of York's Theatre from 24 July with a press night on 5 August, after the Almeida Theatre's transfer of The Doctor which plays from 18 April to 18 July.

McDonagh's work includes the Academy Award-winning film Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri and The Aran Islands trilogy – The Cripple of Inishmaan won Daniel Radcliffe a WhatsOnStage Award for Best Actor in a Play. The Pillowman's only previous UK run was at the National Theatre in 2003.

McDonagh commented: "The Pillowman is a play that's always been very close to my heart, in terms of its combination of the darkest of dark comedy with its exploration of the nature of story-telling itself. It's a play that I haven't wanted to have staged in London until I could find the perfect director and the ideal cast for it, and having worked with Matthew previously on Hangmen, and been an admirer of Steve and Aaron's work for many years, I feel it's the perfect time to find out what a whole new generation makes of this peculiar tale."