Special Plug-In: At Eternity’s Gate

At Eternity’s Gate a one-man performance that will be played at Studio Three at the Arts Bar Hope Street as part of a Double Bill. Written by and starring Joseph Winder, At Eternity’s Gate focuses on the life and death of artist Vincent Van Gogh through his brother, Theo’s, perspective. It harkens on the themes of grief, mental health, and familial love.

Winder came across Theo’s story whilst researching his famous brother and seeing the profound part he played in Vincent’s life. Winder was so surprised that Theo’s story was not as widely known and so built this play out of such motivation. “I was inspired by the incredible bond they had as brothers, the patience and the empathy they had for each other.”

UK-born and US-bred, Winder has since made Liverpool his home with the continuation of his studies at LIPA where he has tried his hand at producing. Winder has been an actor since he was 13 when he found his passion for poetry and Shakespeare, “I had always enjoyed performing and poetry, and getting into Shakespeare allowed me to combine them! From there I continued to act through high school and into college and university, while expanding into directing and stage management.”

With zero correlation to the 2018 Julian Schnabel film of the same name, it was a surprise to hear that it wasn’t on Winder’s radar!

“I wasn’t even aware of the film until I started researching the names of all his paintings. That’s why I named it At Eternity’s Gate, it’s the title of one of my favourites of Vincent’s paintings.”

The title At Eternity’s Gate is in reference to the famous van Gogh painting. Also known as ‘Sorrowing Old Man’, the painting sees an old man hunched over on a chair with his hands covering his face. A foreboding image that is a physical reflection of Vincent van Gogh’s mental health, painted just two months before his death. Winder says,

“I’ve always been drawn to Vincent’s work because of his ability to create something beautiful despite, or even because of his mental illness. I’ve always tried to do the same with the stories I tell and the characters I play. While he has always been a poster boy for the “mentally ill artist” and the idea that you have to suffer or be sad or broken to make art, what I have learnt, and indeed what made me want to tell this story, is that it is actually a bit of a myth.”

The brotherly relationship between Theo and Vincent van Gogh resonated with Winder, which encouraged him to research more about the brothers and create his solo show. Relating to suffering from mental illness as well as having a supportive brother, Winder reflects on his bond with his own brother and how their bond coincidentally mirrors the one Theo and Vincent shared:

“Theo and Vincent used to write letters to each other, and they would always sign their letters by saying “handshake in thoughts” and that stood out to me, not just because of the symbolic beauty, but because long before this show, my brother and I made a deal about a show I was putting on and that a handshake was the sign I had done a good job. Now, whenever my brother sees some of my work, he’ll come up to me afterwards and shake my hand. That’s how I know I’ve done a good job. So the fact that we share that symbol of support with the Van Gogh brothers has always amazed me and is why I make such a point of it in the show.”

The life and death of Vincent van Gogh is widely known and often celebrated within the mainstream, yet Winder takes a step back and looks at the artist through a new lens. Opposed to the lens of a suffering artist, but the lens of his brother, who saw him as a human being and who cared for him deeply.

You can see At Eternity's Gate as part of the Double Bill at Studio Three in the Arts Bar Hope Street on Sunday, 24th March, tickets are available now!