The David Glass ensembles revival of Gormenghast at the BAC was very cleverly executed, expertly swi…

[kelda holmes]

The David Glass ensembles revival of Gormenghast at the BAC was very cleverly executed, expertly switching between visual gags, richly symbolic imagery and synchronised sound sequences.

My favourite performances were by Philip Pellew, who is remarkably endearing and comic as flay the leggy servant and Elise De Grey as Fuschia the tormented older sister of Titus. The ensemble was also very slick as the voice of Gormenghast, helping to bridge the sixteen years covered by the story.

However, the thing which most irked me about this production was the lack of emotional chaos which I believe is at the heart of any coming of age tale. Now whether this is my frustration with the characters, the writing or the direction is debateable. Certainly I found some of the caricatures distasteful, most notably the cook swelter and the family physician. The twin sisters were also perversely one dimensional. But I never got a sense of the turmoil that the young Titus must have felt, being the youngest heir of the Groan estate. He just whimpered and skulked about the stage until he got distracted by the topless “thing”. Meanwhile the chorus repeated mantra’s about his life and the last speech warned that no matter what road he took they would all lead him back to Gormenghast. Whereas Titus seemed to be rebelling against the oppressiveness of his family I think I felt cheated by the production which in spite of all the weird and wonderful rituals seemed trite and hollow at the centre.

The production runs at Battersea Arts Centre from:

27 March 2007 – 15 April 2007

19:30 (sun 17:30, matinees 14 April 14:30 pm) no performance 6-9 April. Check b/o for ticket prices 0207 223 2223