Gorey: The Secret Lives of Edward Gorey
Closed 1h 5m
Gorey: The Secret Lives of Edward Gorey
83

Gorey: The Secret Lives of Edward Gorey NYC Reviews and Tickets

83%
(124 Reviews)
Positive
91%
Mixed
7%
Negative
2%
Members say
Clever, Great acting, Absorbing, Quirky, Intelligent

About the Show

Life Jacket Theatre Company presents an encore run of this play about author/illustrator Edward Gorey that fuses fact and fiction, and features projections and inventive storytelling.

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Member Reviews (124)

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913 Reviews | 928 Followers
79
Ambitious, Entertaining, Indulgent, Clever

See it if Entertaining. Cute. Well directed & staged. Intelligent writing. Funny & informative. I'd've enjoyed more if I had googled Gorey beforehand.

Don't see it if You don'y like small quirky plays. But this is no cheap production. It is very well groomed.

1085 Reviews | 265 Followers
79
Clever, Delightful, Masterful, Profound, Relevant

See it if you want a show that is about a real person, his life, his thoughts, his talents.

Don't see it if your not interested in learning about a cartoonist or his life.

982 Reviews | 343 Followers
70
Clever, Well staged, Absorbing, Unfocused, Well acted

See it if you are a Gorey fan. Play requires prior knowledge (shld show a video of a G book's drawings and recite text). Quirky man gets quirky play.

Don't see it if you want deep insights. Some parts failed, like ballet and animated interaction. Still, many effective moments and humor...and the fur coat!

754 Reviews | 124 Followers
96
Clever, Delightful, Great acting, Great staging, Intelligent

See it if you love deep personal insights so specific that they are universal. Based on his notebooks, letters etc and imagination 3 men create Gorey

Don't see it if you want singing, dancing or guffaws. This is an intimate show in every sense of the word. Small theater, small cast, deeply personal.

MJK
677 Reviews | 190 Followers
85
Absorbing, Quirky, Clever, Entertaining, Moving

See it if you want to learn more about the enigmatic illustrator in an inventive, well-acted, subtle production full of pathos and personal insight.

Don't see it if you expect Gorey's unsettling drawings to come to life. There is scant evidence of his actual artwork. Focus is on the man, not the work.

don
506 Reviews | 1000 Followers
90
Intelligent, Absorbing, Original, Clever

See it if Very enlightening, clever use of the 3 actors. The staging was well done . Nice use of the lighting

Don't see it if many steps to basement site,

563 Reviews | 194 Followers
85
Delightful, Entertaining, Quirky, Intelligent, Great acting

See it if You want to see a portrait of an artist told in an artistic manner. You like whimsical plays. You like biographical plays.

Don't see it if You want a traditional biography play told in chronological order. You prefer more traditional staging & presentation.

479 Reviews | 262 Followers
100
Absorbing, Clever, Moving, Excellent acting and directing, Riveting

See it if you think theatre can be both magical and moving. Intelligent direction and acting. "Gorey" could very well be the sleeper of the season!

Don't see it if you do not know anything about Edward Gorey.

Critic Reviews (19)

The New York Times
December 19th, 2016

"The offbeat illustrator proves a rich subject for a play, and writer-director Travis Russ’s 'Gorey,' does his archly kooky world justice...Mr. Russ’s decisive idea is to have three actors portray him at various stages of his life...The three constantly interact with one another, a lovely way to suggest Gorey’s inner questioning and the evolution of his sensibility through the decades."
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Time Out New York
December 30th, 2016

"Russ’s lovingly crafted play is less concerned with the nitty-gritty of Gorey’s publishing career...and more with his breezy evasions and elliptical musings on an eccentric, solitary life...The mood flits gently from whimsical to melancholy and dryly bemused...For the proud owner of the anthology 'Amphigorey' and its sequels, 'Gorey' (handsomely produced by Life Jacket Theatre Company) is a visit to an old friend who always amuses and sometimes surprises."
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The Observer
December 21st, 2016

"It’s an intriguing lure into the unhinged world of an erratic queer potato, not unlike a friendly invitation from Jack the Ripper to explore a squalid, unlit alley in London after midnight…With three men playing the same role, the play sometimes seems muddled and lacks focus. Still, at 75 minutes with no intermission, it’s an easy-to-take evening about an offbeat individual who could easily be called the American Lewis Carroll that is fascinating enough to make you want to learn more."
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Lighting & Sound America
December 22nd, 2016

"An odd, but beguiling, entertainment...Russ, taking an approach that might have pleased his subject, has assembled a series of brief, teasing scenes, into a collage-like portrait...All three actors are at home in their roles, fully convincing us that they represent one personality at different stages of his life...'Gorey' succeeds in bringing the man to life, highlighting his innate strangeness and arguing effectively that it may have been inseparable from a persistent loneliness."
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Theater Pizzazz
January 5th, 2017

"Russ has combed through journals, interviews and letters creating an entertaining portrait of the creator of classic, droll, macabre books...As sympathetically played by Andrew Dawson, Aiden Sank, and Phil Gillen, all superb, the piece takes us backward and forward in time with cast often sharing the stage and interacting...When one waxes sentimental, the others look on with affection. Memories are corrected and embellished...A grand outing."
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The Huffington Post
December 20th, 2016

"Throughout its 75 minutes at The Sheen Center, it is playful...For the most part, the Gorey stand-ins—starting and finishing each other’s sentences, as directed with ease and amusement by Russ—review his often hermit-like life...Not that much stage time is given over to the odd fellow’s inspirations, executions and grim, if not Grimm, themes...The absence of more discussion feels like a significant lapse."
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Off Script with Dan Dwyer
January 24th, 2017

"A most pleasant evening...Travis Russ, writer and director, charmingly presents an interpretive drama about the prolific and darkly whimsical genius illustrator through three actors...The bittersweet of Gore’s loneliness lingers long after the performance. Kudos to actors Andrew Dawson, Phil Gillen and Aidan Sank for making the multi-dimensional and enigmatic genius so congruent, so real."
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TheaterScene.net
May 7th, 2016
For a previous production

"Playwright Travis Russ has comprehensively and ingeniously rendered Gorey’s life and career in this affectionate concise dramatization...Mr. Russ also is the director and his staging perfectly complements his writing. The expert placement of the actors combined with the outstanding technical elements achieves a visual liveliness as well as emotional depth...Fantasy and memoir are on dazzling display."
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