Review: Nevermore by Catalyst Theatre at the Barbican

My first introduction to Edgar Allen Poe was at a relatively early age. In our house we had a weighty tome that housed the entire collection of Poe’s stories and poetry. I remember as an 8 year old asking to be read one of the stories, choosing the Pit and the Pendulum, thinking it sounded a delightful romp with clocks and ditches.

I’m fairly certain I didn’t sleep for a week.

However, my interest in Poe was sparked and I continued to read his work, first focusing on his beautiful, morose poetry and then later visiting his gruesome stories. His unique style of American Gothic had me hooked and scripted my love for all things in the style, from the films of Tim Burton to the music of the Dresden Dolls.

Add to this my unhealthy love of musical theatre, and you can understand my excitement at the prospect of Canadian troupe, Catalyst Theatre’s ‘Nevermore: The Imaginary Life and Mysterious Death of Edgar Allen Poe.’ To say that the story is Poe’s life would be lying. To say that Poe’s life informed the story would be more accurate, as they weave fiction, fact and fantasy to recreate Poe’s sad life on stage from the aspect of his twisted, macabre mind, set to a score drawing from musical theatre, vaudeville, folk and Weimar cabaret.

To say I enjoyed this show is somewhat of an understatement. In fact, it’s akin to saying that World War II was a minor argument. Everything about this show fit together like clockwork and resulted in an inspiring, wonderful, dark, witty, amazing play. I could sit here and think of another hundred or so adjectives to describe it, but that would just be time wasting.

The sets worked beautifully with the action, with a dark, Victorian chintz style scrim over a bare metal frame that featured three opening and closing doorways. Whether it be characters leaping into the darkness through an open door, monsters behind the scrim, half obscured and in shadow, or ghastly hands protruding from a doorway with the rattling, sinister sound of consumption scoring the action, the way the play interacted with the set was simply genius. I also have that I am a sucker for lighting that is almost as important as the set. The atmospheric lighting, always painting shadows over the actors, was simply beautiful and played an integral part in the horrors onstage. In fact, I think this is the first time I’ve seen horror effectively done on the stage. Notably, his mother screaming in her coffin, the return of his mother with her claw like hands and the raven will possibly make those nightmares I had as a child return.

The cast were all phenomenal, embodying the twisted figures in Poe’s life perfectly. However, the standout was Poe himself. His movement, voice and demanour suited the character so perfectly that I can’t imagine anybody else ever doing that part as well. His flawless, clean and beautiful high tenor voice sent chills up your spine in the few times he was allowed the opportunity to sing. The costumes were amazing, which you can see on countless production photos, and fit the piece perfectly. However, one of the absolute standout aspects of Nevermore was the choreography. The precise, simple movements that seem a mixture of contemporary dance, mime and buko, give every character a puppet-like quality that, as Lyn Gardner mentioned, seem to suggest that fate, not free will, is guiding these characters along.

It’s rare that you leave a theatre feeling like you’ve seen something before it gets huge. I seriously hope that this is the case for Nevermore, as it deserves to be as big a cult hit as something like Nightmare Before Christmas, that it firmly sits in the same genre as.

Hell, they even got a standing ovation out of me, the second in my life. The first was for Stephen Sondheim. Enough said.

Nevermore is playing at the Barbican Theatre until July 10. I’m hoping it comes back to London soon, as nowhere near enough people saw it.