By Stuart Miller
04 Mar 2010

	John Crowley
	photo by Aubrey Reuben

Finding those solutions isn't easy, since McDonagh doesn't like explaining himself or his work. But Crowley says that while he doesn't want to "hammer out a thesis," he does say to McDonagh that he needs to understand "the emotional and imaginative hinterland you were drawing on." And he admits to McDonagh that during Pillowman he spent several lunchtime conversations "stalking your head to learn what led you to certain things."

McDonagh is surprised to learn this, and Crowley adds that it was quite helpful. Then, after a dramatic pause, he confesses: "I did the same on this one as well!" McDonagh bursts out laughing.

For Behanding, both men have learned about the impact Christopher Walken, the last actor cast, can have on a play. McDonagh didn't adapt the part to accommodate his star — he didn't have to. "Chris changes stuff without my help — but in a good way," he says. "His line readings and choices are sometimes outlandish, but you don't want to corral him."

"He's so distinctive in line readings and he has that funny-scary thing he can do so well," Crowley says. "He's tonally spot on. And he doesn't ever feel studied; he's in the moment."

Crowley says the performance is "astonishing" in that Walken has "colonized" the play a bit without losing any of McDonagh's voice. "But I am going to put back a couple of those pauses and a couple of the question marks," laughs McDonagh, his tone implying that he knows such efforts are futile but that for once he's willing to make an exception.