The Mementi Mori of Edward Gorey

by John J King

A shuffle play inspired by the life and work of author-illustrator Edward St. John Gorey. THE MEMENTI MORI OF EDWARD GOREY has 13 sketches about the artist, in different styles from ballet and opera to hand puppets and silent film. For each performance, several sketches are selected and ordered by an audience volunteer - Tarot card reading style - resulting in a new performance each night. By casting nine actors...

A shuffle play inspired by the life and work of author-illustrator Edward St. John Gorey. THE MEMENTI MORI OF EDWARD GOREY has 13 sketches about the artist, in different styles from ballet and opera to hand puppets and silent film. For each performance, several sketches are selected and ordered by an audience volunteer - Tarot card reading style - resulting in a new performance each night. By casting nine actors as different versions of the artist, MEMENTI MORI explores the spectrum and fluidity of identity, artistry, and personhood, through a life.

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The Mementi Mori of Edward Gorey

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  • Ramona Rose King: The Mementi Mori of Edward Gorey by John J King
    “

    This is such a formally exciting piece—it's a joy to read but truly begs to be performed. Each vignette is a treat in itself, and they all come together to create a complex, melancholy, and gorgeous portrait of an artist. As someone who isn't particularly a Gorey fan, it was still accessible and interesting, but I'm sure anyone who is more familiar with his work would find even more layers of meaning and fun facts.

    This is such a formally exciting piece—it's a joy to read but truly begs to be performed. Each vignette is a treat in itself, and they all come together to create a complex, melancholy, and gorgeous portrait of an artist. As someone who isn't particularly a Gorey fan, it was still accessible and interesting, but I'm sure anyone who is more familiar with his work would find even more layers of meaning and fun facts.

    ”
Edward Gorey was a man of many contradictions, personalities, talents, and pseudonyms. This play attempts to explore the vast universes of him and, by extension, us all.

You’ll need at least nine actors, one for each of the nine versions of Gorey. His Noms de Plume:

TED As known by his family, and friends in NYC.
SINJUN Gorey in High School.
PIXIE At Harvard, and Boston. Early to mid-twenties.
EDWARD As known by family and friends in his Cape Cod years.
OGDRED WEARY EG’s Bitchiest Queen. Or Queeniest Bitch.
GARROD WEEDY At his most pretentious. Or most mocking of pretention.
MRS. REGERA DOWDY A quite Prim Old Woman from the 19th century.
D. AWDREY-GORE A quite Prim Famous Mystery Writer; LOVES murder.
MADAME GROEDA WEYRD A turbaned, feathered mystic.



Whichever Gorey appears in a sketch wears Gorey’s iconic big bushy beard. (Some sketches have all nine; you’ll need nine beards).

Whoever isn’t ‘it’ in a scene is in the ensemble and fills out the remaining parts. See individual sketches for doubling.

There should be many Goreys: Tall Teds, short Sinjuns, Old Ogdreds, Young Weedys, Af-Am Awdrey-Gores, MENA Madames, Pansexual Pixies, trans Edwards and bi-racial Regeras. (I’ve listed cute alliteration, but don’t take these specifics literally. Show Gorey’s – and humanity’s – extremes and all flavors in between. The bodies of the cast should reflect the full spectrum.)

Additional actors may be used to fill out the chorus/ensemble roles.

Development History

  • Residency, WildAcres Retreat, 2019