Will Barter-Sheppard’s Usher was at once compelling and repugnant. Overwhelmed by insanity and seeking escape, Usher sought sanctuary in music, giving us a momentary disarming glimpse of the calm of a former life which was then almost immediately ripped apart as Rowney’s desperate Madeline wrapped herself around him and the melodious violin line jarred and shuddered into angular dissonance, catalysing her brutal attack. We were invited to roam the Edward Alleyn Theatre as voyeurs witnessing the unravelling not just of the siblings’ sanity but of the very fabric of the theatre itself Rowney demonstrated his versatility as an actor, merging the elderly valet who sought to guide us through the maze of The House of Usher with the carefully constructed sister, Madeline, a woman engulfed by the trauma of
the plague slowly consuming her. Clearly tapping into Punchdrunk skills of ‘moving with purpose’ and ‘radiating intention’, no moment was wasted as the mise-en-scène came thick and fast and we too began to feel the suffoca- tion of the eponymous House, compelled to watch in case we missed the ‘blink and you’ll miss it moments’ which characterise Punchdrunk’s practice of giving us ‘frag- ments and personalised intimate journeys’. The duo owned the space and left us stunned as Madeline broke free of her cataleptic trance and coffin, conveyed by the elastic straps which restricted her. The set met- aphorically and physically began to disintegrate around the siblings as the gauze fell abruptly, commencing the shattering of the house. Finally, Usher held his lifeless sister in an ethereal mo- ment of tenderness as snow floated down from the gantry above them. This provocative devised piece was unset- tling and thrilling and left us reeling and breathless. ◎
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THE ALLEYNIAN 711
DRAMA & DANCE
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