The Conqueror Worm

Set in the lost attic of the world, two vulture-esque beings offer a unique view of humanity, in an inventive mix of bouffon, puppetry and clown. The Conqueror Worm, based on the Edgar Allan Poe poem, tells the tale of a theatre filled with angels, with the audience playing this heavenly host. They have come to the theatre to see “a play of hopes and fears”, which is ultimately “the tragedy, Man”. The two protagonists manipulate shadow puppets in the shadowy human world, wreaking havoc and destruction. The narrators delight in this game of manipulation – a game that has only one possible ending for the fragile humans. With the entrance of the Conqueror Worm, the protagonists’ pet, all of the human hopes and fears come to naught. The piece explores the very essence of what it is to be human, to hope and to fear, the vulnerability these hopes and fears expose us to. It is ultimately a playful rejection of nihilism – if death, the “Conqueror Worm” is indeed the inevitable victor then the heroism lies in the fragile, small lives that remain jubilant and hopeful in its face.

Technical rider