Gormenghast is the second volume of a trilogy by the poet, writer and artist Mervyn Peake (1911-1968) which starts with Titus Groan published in 1946 and ends with Titus Alone in 1959. Peake had intended to continue the series with at least two more books, when he died at age 57.
Keith Newstead first sketched an idea for this assemblage of automata in the late nineties around 20 years before he started making the piece at the end of 2017. The piece took Keith around 6 months to make and was finished by summer 2018. It was first displayed at Falmouth Art Gallery, and is now being developed and toured by Cabaret Mechanical Theatre.
Many of the main characters in BOLD TYPE below can be found as you peer into the different rooms of the castle.
Gormenghast is a remote and reclusive earldom dominated by a sprawling, decaying castle with mud huts clustered at its base. It has been ruled since time immemorial by the noble family of Groan. Peake’s story opens with the birth of Titus Groan, heir and successor to Lord Sepulchrave, the melancholic 76th Earl, and his countess, Lady Gertrude Groan (look for the white cats - Titus is in the cradle). The very same day, the kitchen apprentice Steerpike who has been constantly humiliated and harassed by the chef Abiatha Swelter, manages to flee from the kitchen in the cellar up to the rooftops of the castle (where you can see him now).
There he falls into a deep sleep, but is eventually woken by Fuchsia, daughter of the Lord. Fuchsia introduces him to Lady Cora and Lady Clarice, the twin sisters of Earl Groan. Their childlike dreams of power make them the perfect pawns for Steerpike’s monstrous schemes which include setting fire to Lord Sepulcrave’s treasured library. This disaster and Steerpike’s continued sinister and power-thirsty plotting sets off a spiral of horrific events which surround Titus as he grows up. Ultimately, he puts an end to the nightmare by killing Steerpike and leaving Gormenghast.
The other characters depicted by Keith are Dr Prunesquallor and his sister Irma and Rottcodd in the Hall of Bright Carvings.
Watch Keith Newstead's original video of the finished piece below.
