Christ Church Parish House and various venues, Cambridge
1950 - 1968
various venues
1987 - present
Gorey was a founding member of the Poets' Theatre, along with John Ashbery, Frank O'Hara, V. R. Lang, Alison Lurie, William Matchett, Thornton Wilder and William Carlos Williams. He designed sets for the first play the group presented - O'Hara's one-man show "Try, Try" in 1951. Gorey's illustration, seen to the right, has since been the theater's logo.
Experimental plays were staged until the Cambridge building it occupied burned down in 1968. After allowing the ashes cool for nearly 20 years, members of the Poets' Theatre threw a commemorative party, a memorial ceremony in 1986. Gorey called it "A Wake" on the announcement poster. However, not all life was extinquished from the fire eighteen years previous, and in 1987, the Poets' Theatre began a new life. It continues today.
Visit the Poets' Theatre at www.poetstheatre.com
TRY! TRY!
by Frank O'Hara
1951
THE SINISTER TEDDY BEAR, A SINISTER PLAY
1952
