Mr. Gorey was a Chicago born author and illustrator who died in 2000 at the age of 75. He is best know for such macabre tales as "The Doubtful Guest"
and "The Gashlycrumb Tinies"
Gorey's work first caught my attention in the classic opening credits of the PBS series "Mystery," which I watched religiously as a child.
Five years ago, for a Halloween show at the Elephant Theatre Company in Los Angeles, I wrote a short play inspired the Gorey I grew up with and by the musical Gorey Stories, a production of which I saw performed by the magnificent Sacred Fools Theatre in Hollywood.
This play, The Gobblerslough Children, will be produced this October at the Little Fish Theatre in San Pedro, CA during the run of (un)afraid, and since neither you or I can be in both places at once, I am sharing with you here in it's entirety. I hope you enjoy it.
(c) 2005 by Daniel McCoy
Characters
Mr. Gobblerslough
Mrs. Gobblerslough
Jane, Marybelle and Gregor Gobblerslough (their children)
Viola McCrutchen (their maid)
Doctor (a doctor)
PROLOGUE: THE GOBBLERSLOUGH FAMILY
The Gobblerslough children had never missed a meal
MARYBELLE
It was clear they had always been fed
GREGOR
At supper they feasted on cabbage and veal
And then
JANE, MARYBELLE, GREGOR
Off they waddled to bed
MR. GOBBLERSLOUGH
Now Mr. and Mrs. Gobblerslough hadn’t
Said a word to each other in years
MRS. GOBBLERSLOUGH
But if either of them was regretful or saddened
They kept it quite hidden, my dears
VIOLA
The Gobblersloughs’ maid, Viola McCrutchen
Was new to the family estate
DOCTOR
The old maid had died from a fish bone or such
She’d been found face down on her plate
JANE, MRS. GOBBLERSLOUGH
The house was perched on the edge of a cliff
MRS. GOBBLERSLOUGH
Overlooking a lonely old moor
MARYBELLE
On grey winter mornings
MARYBELLE, GREGOR
The fog would drift
From below
VIOLA, DOCTOR
Up the cliff
MR. GOBBLERSLOUGH
To the windows and doors
MR. & MRS. GOBBLERSLOUGH, GREGOR, MARYBELLE, JANE
Where inside were the Gobblersloughs
JANE
Eating and sighing
MR. GOBBLERSLOUGH
Staring and eyeing
MR. & MRS. GOBBLERSLOUGH
Each other
‘Cross tables that stretched on for years
VIOLA
Of silence and hidden resentments and fears
ALL
And outside the house was encased in the fog
DOCTOR
As it hovered and waited
VIOLA
As the family within
GREGOR, MARYBELLE, JANE
Were consumed by a thousand fold secrets and sins
ALL
And that’s how our story begins
PART 1: THE DEATH OF GREGOR GOBBLERSLOUGH
(A SCREAM)
VIOLA
One morning the family woke before dawn
To a terrible scream from below
They raced down the stairs with their nightshirts half on
To discover young Gregor
MR. & MRS. GOBBLERSLOUGH, MARYBELLE, JANE
Oh no
GREGOR
Young Gregor, it seems, had been sleepwalking when he
Went tumbling down two flights of stairs
DOCTOR
The doctor had seen this before, in fact many
Such cases brought families to tears
(Pause)
To tears
(The cry)
MR. GOBBLERSLOUGH
They buried the child in a plot on the moor
JANE
Where dozens of Gobblersloughs lay
GREGOR
His headstone read “Gregor – Died 1904
“There’s Really Not Much More To Say”
VIOLA
That night the whole house was surrounded by fog
MR. & MRS. GOBBLERSLOUGH, JANE, MARYBELLE
And the Gobblersloughs huddled indoors
MRS. GOBBLERSLOUGH
The air was thick with the stench of a bog
GREGOR
And a howl could be heard on the moors
PART 2: THE DEATH OF JANE GOBBLERSLOUGH
(A SCREAM)
VIOLA
A scream once again woke them all before dawn
And this time it came from the kitchen
They quickly discovered the oven was on
And inside was young Jane, burnt n’ twitchin’…
DOCTOR
“Young Jane mistook oven for bed,”
MR. & MRS. GOBBLERSLOUGH, MARYBELLE
Said the Doc
DOCTOR
“In a moment’s delusional trance.”
JANE
On the moor she was buried and carved on her rock
Was “Jane – Well, She Had Her Chance”
VIOLA
That night as the fog squeezed the house like a fist
And the shadows inside prowled and crept
DOCTOR
Mr. Gobblerslough favored his wife with a kiss
And alone, for the first time, she wept
(Pause)
She wept
(She weeps)
INTERLUDE: THE GOBBLERSLOUGH FAMILY HISTORY
GREGOR
Before we proceed with the rest of the play
JANE
We must offer some explanation
For the Gobblersloughs’ manners.
GREGOR
I’m sorry to say
GREGOR, JANE
That grieving is not their vocation
MRS. GOBBLERSLOUGH
The family history’s riddled, you see
With death after untimely death
MR. GOBBLERSLOUGH
So it’s really not given them reason to be
ALL
Mmm…surprised…
MR. & MRS. GOBBLERSLOUGH
That their children no longer draw breath
MR. GOBBLERSLOUGH
Mr. Gobblerslough’s brother, Phineas, had died
Installing a large weather vane
A storm had snuck up and “poof” he was fried
His ashes washed away in the rain
MRS. GOBBLERSLOUGH
Grandmama died of a bee in her greens
Her head swelled up like a balloon
JANE
Cousin Bert almost reached the end of his teens
Before choking to death on a spoon
MARYBELLE
Aunt Twyla was trampled to death by a cow
GREGOR
Uncle Fredrick fell into a well
JANE
Their children, suddenly orphans now
GREGOR, JANE
Knew their time would soon come as well
PART 3: THE DEATH OF MARYBELLE GOBBLERSLOUGH
DOCTOR
But back to our tale
VIOLA
Just one child remains
VIOLA, DOCTOR
In the Gobblersloughs’ story of sorrow
MARYBELLE
Young Marybelle’s parents were wracking their brains
How to keep her alive ‘til tomorrow
MR. GOBBLERSLOUGH
They finally agreed upon tying her down
To her bed
MRS. GOBBLERSLOUGH
Then both standing guard
MARYBELLE
But they soon fell asleep and young Marybelle found
That escaping their knots wasn’t hard
She crept down the stairs holding only a candle
To face what dark terrors might wait
But the fear was much more than her wee heart could handle
And young Mary fell into a faint
She awoke in the dark and felt on each side
The cold wood of a casket around her
She screamed and pounded and wailed and cried
But ‘twas too late and nobody found her
DOCTOR
“Your child, it seems,”
ALL
The Doctor had said
DOCTOR
“Is the victim of ‘fainting disease’
“Though she may seem in swoon, she’s really quite dead
“Now bury her quick if you please.”
GREGOR, JANE
Her tombstone read “Marybelle – So Much For Her”
MRS. GOBBLERSLOUGH
And her parents stood silently by
Not a word passed between them
MR. GOBBLERSLOUGH
But a change had occurred
MR. & MRS. GOBBLERSLOUGH
In the field where all Gobblersloughs lie
JANE
As the night crept around
GREGOR
And the light rolled away
MR. & MRS. GOBBLERSLOUGH
They remained side by side, hand in hand
MARYBELLE
And the last of the Gobblersloughs, still to this day
Are said there forever to stand
EPILOGUE: THE GOBBLERSLOUGH CHILDREN
VIOLA
The doctor and maid took over the place
DOCTOR
For they’d worked long and hard to possess it
VIOLA
She’d accomplished her murders with effortless grace
DOCTOR
And his misdiagnoses were odd but believable
MR. & MRS. GOBBLERSLOUGH
Both of the cohorts knew they were evil
VIOLA, DOCTOR
But soon they forgave themselves
VIOLA
Really who wouldn’t
DOCTOR
‘Fore nothing can comfort an unsettled mind
Like luxury
VIOLA
Ownership
MR. & MRS. GOBBLERSLOUGH
Distance and time
VIOLA
“And so what if we wake on occasion,”
ALL
They said
VIOLA
“To a Gobblerslough child
DOCTOR
“At the foot of the bed
VIOLA
“Eating veal and cabbage like they did back in life
VIOLA, DOCTOR
“In one hand a fork and the other a knife
DOCTOR
“For indeed it’s been years that the three have been dead
ALL
“But even in death they are always well fed”
GREGOR, JANE, MARYBELLE
“Even in death we are always well fed”
MARYBELLE
Even in death we are always well fed
(End of play)
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