Gormenghast

Mervyn Peake, John Constable

• Publisher: Oberon Books
• Year: 2012
• Print ISBN: 9781840026733
• eBook ISBN: 9781849435819
• Edition: 1
• Topic: Literature
• Subtopic: British Drama
• Index: Literature

In a world bound by iron laws and dead rituals, two young men are struggling to make their way: Steerpike, the renegade kitchen-boy who seduces and murders his way up the social ladder, and Titus Groan, heir to Gormenghast, who comes to threaten its very existence.
John Constable famously 'pulled off the impossible' ( The Times ) with his stage adaptation of Mervyn Peake's legendary Gormenghast trilogy. Commissioned and produced by the David Glass Ensemble, this gruesome, gothic drama has since become a landmark in the history of adaptation for the stage.

Act Three

The Flood

SCENE 1

The Poisoned Chalice

STEERPIKE, the new Master of Ritual, raises a ceremonial chalice. He takes out a vial of poison, pours it into the chalice, sniffs it, smiling with professional pride.

SWELTER’S GHOST appears above, bathed in a lime-green light, mournfully singing:

SWELTER: Steerpike. Steerpike. Steerpike. Steerpike…

Skew-bald… His ruined face… white and scarlet…

Burnt beyond repair… Eyes the colour of dried blood…

Every word, every deed, every motive ulterior…

Holds the Castle in the scalded palm of his hand…

Where does he come from? What does he mean?

(Calling down.) Tell me Steerpike, what does it all mean?

SWELTER’S GHOST vanishes.

SCENE 2

The Earling

Distant thunder. Sporadic flashes of lightning. A CROWD of shadows. An iron bell rings. Enter FUCHSIA. STEERPIKE presents her with the chalice. They exchange furtive looks. Above: The COUNTESS appears on a rostrum decked with ritual emblems, watching with foreboding. Beside her, TITUS gazes gloomily out over his domain.

STEERPIKE: (Ritually invoking the spirit of the Castle.)

Gormenghast!

Bells and gongs chime. TITUS descends from the rostrum to kneel and kiss the earth, performing the ritual with a weariness reminiscent of his father Sepulchrave.

(Declaiming.) It is written, and the writing adhered to, that the Earl of Gormenghast be invested with all due ceremony as a living symbol of the Castle. I, Steerpike, Master of Ritual, hereby declare that this Earling shall in no way violate the ancient tenets…

COUNTESS: (Shouting down at him.) Get on with it!

STEERPIKE: Let the Earling commence!

Bells, gongs, drums. FUCHSIA hands the chalice to TITUS. He makes to drink. THE THING suddenly springs from the shadows, snatching the chalice from his hand.

All stand rooted to the spot as THE THING dances off with the chalice. On an impulse, TITUS chases after her.

FUCHSIA: (Makes after him.) Titus!

COUNTESS: Titus! (To STEERPIKE.) Stop them!

STEERPIKE: (Restraining her.) Lady Fuchsia!

FUCHSIA: (Despairing.) Oh, Steerpike, what has he done?

STEERPIKE: (Whispering urgently.) Your brother has violated the Castle’s most hallowed rite. You must find him. He must drink! He must complete the ceremony. Understand? (She nods.) Your mother will be angry if I let you go. You must appear to defy me. (Feigns trying to hold her.) Lady Fuchsia, I beg you!

FUCHSIA: (Shouting for the COUNTESS’s benefit.) Let me go! (Breaks free and runs off.)

COUNTESS: Why? Why? (Exits, above, shouting.) ’Squallor! Squallor!

STEERPIKE: (Alone, surveying his intended domain.) Find him, Fuchsia. Make him drink. And when he has drunk, all this shall be yours. And you shall be mine. All mine.

Light fades on STEERPIKE.

SCENE 3

Death of The Thing

Isolated splashes of rain quickly turn into a torrential downpour. An abandoned part of the castle, overgrown. Enter and exit in rapid succession: THE THING, chased by TITUS, running blindly in the storm, followed by FUCHSIA, staggering through the rain on the verge of collapse.

THE THING reappears, having given them the slip. She crawls into the mouth of her cave. Inside the cave, THE THING squats like a frog, plucking feathers from a magpie. She gobbles the raw meat, tossing aside the bones. Wipes her mouth. Scratches her thigh.

TITUS appears at the entrance to the cave, watching her. She picks up the chalice she stole, staring at it from different angles, her head on one side like a bird. She drinks, guzzling greedily, the puts down the chalice and rises in a single, fluid movement, stretching with cat-like grace. She freezes, sensing danger, her eyes scanning the shadows.

TITUS enters the cave. THE THING snatches a stone and hurls it at him, backing off as he advances.

TITUS: Can’t you understand? I am your friend. Your friend! I am Lord Titus. Can’t you hear me? I’ve run away! I followed you… I’ve found you… So speak to me, for God’s sake! Speak, can’t you?

THE THING makes a silent gesture of trust. TITUS removes the chain from round his neck, showing her the Key.

Look! The Key to the Iron Gate. My mother gave it me… the Key that may not be used. But you could use it. You could unlock the Iron Gate. Here! Take it. It’s yours.

He offers her the Key. THE THING leans forward, snatching at it. He catches hold of her, trying to restrain her. She struggles. He grips her tighter, pinning her down, kissing her. THE THING convulses, then goes limp. THE THING dies in TITUS’s arms. He cradles her, in shock. The storm abates. Rain drips. FUCHSIA appears, crawling into the cave.

FUCHSIA: Titus!

TITUS: (Without emotion.) She’s dead, Fuchsia.

FUCHSIA: What? Who?

TITUS: The wild girl.

FUCHSIA: The Thing? Titus, how could you? The Thing.

They say she was cursed. They say…

TITUS: I don’t care! I don’t care what they say. I loved her…

FUCHSIA: Don’t tell me, Titus. I don’t want to know. You live your life and I’ll live mine. Oh God! Is there nothing but death and beastliness?

FLAY appears. He coughs discreetly.

TITUS: (No emotion.) Hullo, Mr Flay. You look wonderful and wild…

FLAY: Ladyship says you missed your Earling… forgive me, Lordship, but… for the Earl to miss his own Earling…

FUCHSIA: (Retrieves the chalice.) There’s still some left. Titus… (Offers the chalice. He refuses it.) Titus, you must.

TITUS: Must what?

FUCHSIA: Complete the ceremony.

TITUS: Says who? Steerpike? I’ve seen you, Fuchsia.

FUCHSIA: What’s that supposed to mean?

TITUS: It means I don’t want you to see him.

FUCHSIA: What do you know about him? Is it a crime for him to be more brilliant than we could ever be? Is it his fault that he’s disfigured?

FLAY: (Coughs.) Lady Fuchsia… forgive me, but… the ceremony… Barquentine…

FUCHSIA: Barquentine’s dead, Mr Flay. Burnt to death.

Steerpike tried to save him.

FLAY: (Agitated.) But the Ritual… Who makes the symbols come to life? Who turns the wheels of Gormenghast?

FUCHSIA: It’s all right, Mr Flay. Steerpike wasn’t trained for nothing.

FLAY: Steerpike? No! No! He’s no Master of Ritual! No love, Ladyship. No love for Gormenghast.

TITUS: I wish there wasn’t a Master of Ritual, or a Gormenghast. I wish they’d burn the whole place down!

FLAY: (Sharply.) Terrible thing to say, Lordship! Terrible…

FUCHSIA: Titus. (Offers chalice.) Drink.

He angrily dashes the chalice to the ground. She turns away, hurt.

FLAY: (Retrieves the chalice, sniffing it suspiciously.) Lordship… Thing… Did she… (Indicates chalice.)

TITUS nods, startled out of his grief, grasping his meaning. FLAY silences him befor...

Table of contents

• Front Cover
• Half-Title page
• Title Page
• Copyright
• Dedication
• Contents
• Introduction
• Characters
• Act One: The Child Inheritor
• Act Two: The Truant Earl
• Act Three: The Flood