Details

Marking the 150th anniversary of Joseph Conrad's birth Kurtz is inspired by the central character in Conrad's Heart of Darkness, regarded by many as the greatest masterpiece of modern 20th Century Gothic literature. Conrad's grim experiences in the Congo gave birth to his most enigmatic character, Kurtz, whose frightening and tragic story is imaginatively explored in this intense short drama. It charts one man's catastrophic fall from grace, which foretells a far greater collapse, a darkness which will destroy the narrow-minded idealism of the whole of western civilization. Heart of Darkness was the first story to lift the lid on the monstrous slavery, torture and mass-murder of 10 million Congolese under the regime of Leopold II of Belgium. In his sinister and haunting novella Heart of Darkness, Joseph Conrad created a seminal work, and a damaging critique of colonialism, which is still alarmingly relevant to us today.

Cast/Performers

Paul McEwan (Kurtz)

Creatives/Company

Author: Robert Wynne-Simmons
Producer: Rocking Cradle Productions Ltd
Director: Tilly Edwards
Design: Barbara Shaw