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1800s: A feud between illusionists starts which ricochets down the years….
1800s: A feud between illusionists starts which ricochets down the years….
Two 19th century stage illusionists, the aristocratic Rupert Angier and the working-class Alfred Borden, engage in a bitter and deadly feud; the effects are still being felt by their respective families a hundred years later.
Working in the gaslight-and-velvet world of Victorian music halls, they prowl edgily in the background of each other’s shadowy life, driven to the extremes by a deadly combination of obsessive secrecy and insatiable curiosity.
At the heart of the row is an amazing illusion they both perform during their stage acts. The secret of the magic is simple, and the reader is in on it almost from the start, but to the antagonists the real mystery lies deeper. Both have something more to hide than the mere workings of a trick.
The world of magic opens up here – from the world of the Victorian Theatre to the behind the scenes where tension is hidden behind the curtains…for now. The West End is the home of the London theatre and plenty a stage where the magic happens each and every night. For a real taste of an old fashioned theatre, or in this case a music hall, Wilton’s Music Hall is vintage style theatre where the sounds and sights of the stage can still be seen and heard. Just close your eyes…
The snowy hills of Colorado City are where Angier visits America and seeks out Nikola Teslar (played by David Bowie in the film) to help with electrical special effects for a new trick he has in mind. This is the place to find out all about the power of electricity in the local Tesla Museum of Science
“Within a few years I shall be generating power for the whole world in the way that at present I power the cities of Buffalo and Colorado Springs”
Author/Guide: Christopher Priest Destination: London, Colorado Springs Departure Time:1850s
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