The Theatrical Adventures of Edward Gorey
Edward Gorey (1925-2000) blanched at the suggestion that his work was macabre. The author of children’s books for sophisticated adults, profusely illustrated with skulls, bats and Edwardian bric-a-brac, was “a thoughtful, gentle man with a soft heart and a generous soul,” according to his friend, Cape Cod neighbor and collaborator, Carol Verburg. The Theatrical Adventures of Edward Gorey recounts her memories of the eccentric artist, focusing on his work as a theater director and author of theatrical skits and reviews he called “amusements.”
Gorey earned a Tony from his characteristic stage settings for Dracula and was known in New York, yet much of his theater work, his “amusements,” took place far from Broadway at Cape Cod’s Provincetown Theatre Company, often with the author of this book. Many were stitched together from pieces of his stories or staged as puppet shows.
Verburg describes Gorey’s work well. They’re full of startling events, strange characters, dazzling visual wit and wordplay, but sparse on cause and effect. The Theatrical Adventures is chockful of Gorey’s artwork, the playbills he drew and hand-lettered, pages from his scripts, photos of casts and puppets. It’s a lavish treat for Gorey fans.
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