Exhibition of paintings and drawings

A particularly-fine exhibition of Mervyn Peake's work which includes characters from Gormenghast is now on show at the Viktor Wynd Gallery in East London. The exhibition continues until September 2019.

Mervyn Peake, Son of Sark

Stephen Foote has collaborated with Christian Peake and produced the most informative book about Mervyn Peake's life on Sark. It's fascinating to see just how much the island influenced Peake and his work. I'd recommend this book to anyone who's interested in that period of his life - which, of course included much of the writing of Gormenghast. He also lived there in his twenties when he was part of the art collective, The Sark Group.

Copies are available from the publisher, Blue Ormer.

Mervyn Peake, at the British Library

On Friday 2 November the British Library are presenting an evening devoted to Mervyn Peake, celebrating his achievements, fifty years after his death. The panel will include Fabian Peake, Neil Gaiman, Chris Riddell, Liz Jensen and Miranda Richardson. Starting at 7.30, tickets available from 3rd September.

Captain Slaughterboard exhibition

The illustrations for Captain Slaughterboard are to be exhibited at the Kunstmuseum in Luzern. It's a fascinating angle too. Once again, Mervyn Peake was working on ideas before they had become so mainstream..

"The British author and draftsman Mervyn Peake (1911-1968) created a figure with Yellow Creature already in 1939, which in every drawing between woman and man, animal and man 'changiert' and while still faithful above all remains faithful to itself. Yellow Creature is therefore the title for the group exhibition, which focuses on the relationship between gender and genres." 

A new German edition of "Captain Slaughterboard Drops Anchor" will be available from the museum.

The Mervyn Peake Awards

Sebastian Peake worked with Parkinson's UK to set up an annual creative arts competition for people with Parkinson's, the condition which, of course, affected his father's life so tragically. This year sees the 15th year of the awards, and next month a free awards exhibition of all the 2016 entries will be held at the prestigious gallery@oxo on South Bank, London.

More information about the exhibition, including the programme of events, can be found here.

A new exhibition

Sebastian would have been delighted to know that his father's work was to be hung alongside work by Gunter Grass and Alasdair Gray. And there's just such a show at the Last Tuesday Society now. More information here.

Boy in Darkness

Gareth Murphy's powerful performance at the Blue Elephant Theatre in Camberwell, is an absolute must for any Mervyn Peake fans. He is a truly inspired actor and has scrutinised the story and worked closely with the director, John Walton, to bring it to today's audience. The whole play is utterly absorbing, and every aspect of the production contributes to make this truly compelling.

There's also a fascinating exhibition of Lewis Peake's work in the bar. It's a great combination.

Book tickets here.

"A physical theatre gem." The Stage

(Photographs by Lidia Crisafulli)