As one of architecture’s greatest figures, Antoni Gaudí pioneered a modernist style which still fascinates and sparks wonder today, a century after his untimely death. But what led Gaudí to greatness is the focus of this tight new work, Gaudí: God’s Architect.
Having sold out in 2024, Stephen Callaghan’s piece, with AGAP Theatre, returns to Edinburgh with revised materials to commemorate the death of the architect, whose death, being struck by a tram, meant that Gaudí missed out on watching the growth of his most renowned work, Barcelona’s imposing Sagrada Familia.
Yet while it is the cathedral Gaudí’s name is perhaps most familiar with, the show spends more time delving into Gaudí’s backstory, exploring the history of the man and how he rose to the top of the architectural world, even though the combination of his creative pursuits and intense Christian faith pulled him further and further into isolation.
In this sense, Callaghan’s script does a remarkable job of humanising and spotlighting a man known mostly for his work with mosaic tiles. This is an impeccably researched piece, and one which clearly magnifies the writer’s affection for the architect. Performed by a trio (Callaghan, Bernadette McCluskey and Russell Wheeler), the piece reaches Edinburgh as part of a tour which has also seen the work go into schools (some of the exaggerated gestures carry over to this version), helping to revive Gaudí’s legacy to new audiences.
It does, though, get a little bogged down in dialogue-heavy discussions, and while these are interesting to hear, especially shedding light on the desperate traumas which befell the Gaudí family, one wishes for a little more on the art itself, with a little more colour needed despite the noble inclusions of some beautiful, small models and some dazzling mosaic waistcoats.
This is a neat and hard-working production, and one that leaves you knowing far more about Gaudí than you did at the start. The Spanish accents are a little ‘Manuel from Fawlty Towers’, but it is an extremely well-researched work, and one that reminds us that behind most geniuses is a life of torment and struggle.
