The Boy in Darkness

The Blue Elephant have finalised their production of Boy in Darkness.

Boy in Darkness is an episode in the Gormenghast series when Titus Groan, referred to mostly as "the Boy" in the story, is a young teenager.

Yearning for freedom from his ceaseless duties he escapes the ancient castle and encounters the nightmare world outside.

Alive

When I saw this show in development I was impressed by the physicality of it and it's brooding dynamism, despite being a one man recital.

The final production had added stage props to aid with the exploratory climbing of the tale.

This is a beautiful dark representation of the Mervyn Peake book.

Brooding

I still have reservations about the length and intensity of the production, at times it feels as if there is need to take stock of the story, especially as it flows straight through with just one narrator.

However the overall effect is quite spell binding and is a great effort to bring a spine chilling storybook to life on stage.

The run ends soon, so go while you still can.
The simplicity of the production adds to it's foreboding.