ED2011 3/5 Reviews ED2011 Theatre Reviews

The Fall Of The House Of Usher (Perse Players)

By | Published on Wednesday 31 August 2011

Poe pioneered the American Gothic with this chilling tale of death and decomposition, and Emma Murray as Madeline Usher in particular takes to his style like a Gothic duck to water; with remarkably vacant eyes when alive and frozen limbs when dead, her Madeline encapsulates the terror of Poe in a nutshell. Her supporting cast members, save some quite chilling stage entrances, do the opposite by parodying Poe with their flamboyantly quirky Burton-esque ‘Nightmare Before Christmas’ approach. Concerned more with their spooky made-up faces than capturing the terror of their characters’ mental decay, no-one seems truly ‘decomposed’ or changed by the events except Murray’s Madeline. This production, charming as it is, falls slightly in losing sight of Poe’s main premise.

theSpace at Venue45, 23 – 27 Aug, 4.45pm (6.15pm), £6.00 – £8.00, fpp261.
tw rating 3/5
[pc]



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