San Marino
"Gorey Gardens" and Poe-try in beautiful San Marino! The Huntington Library's Ghoulish Gathering on the Greens: a review
The pristine gardens of The Huntington Library and Art Galleries in the upscale community of San Marino California, near Pasadena, is not a place that immediately brings to mind a vision of specters and phantoms. But on one night in October every year, the lawns and terraces of the venerable botanical are transformed into chilling catacombs and darkly decorated halls, straight from the minds and pens of Edgar Allen Poe and Edward Gorey, entitled Drama After Dark: An Evening of Poe and Gorey.
This years' evening of eerie and "dreary" literary and dramatic spine tinglers was presented on October 9, 2010 by The Guild of St George, an dramatic and historic reenactment group based in San Bernardino, specializing in the Elizabethan and Renaissance periods. This year 10 productions were performed throughout the evening, each one running 15 minutes to a half an hour, and repeated at regular intervals between 7pm and 9pm. The players themselves were costumed in historic dress, apropos to the period of the piece being performed, and delivering what can be awkward and difficult period language with a gusto and understanding that added much to the audience experience. Each vignette was surrounded with blazing candles, in a variety of candelabrum, as well as torches and votives. No electric lighting is permitted. The ambience of the whole event was darkly romantic and, at times, not a little unnerving.
Audience participation is by way of a trek through the moonlit gardens by map (this night in 2010 there was little moon to speak of, heightening the whole dramatic effect) and guests are encouraged to bring their own flashlights to prevent getting as hopelessly lost as my own group did (to our delight) as we were wandering "weak and weary" to the next performance.
Titles performed included Gorey's Gashleycrumb Tinies and The Green Beads, de rigeur Poe classics The Raven, The Black Cat and The Tell Tale Heart, among many others. Striking performances by actor Jeffrey Paul Whitman as Poe himself in The Raven, and the pretty and fresh faced Heather Dara Williams reciting the bloody masterpiece Masque of the Red Death, were truly memorable. It was impossible to see all the productions in the evening, as they happen simultaneously, guaranteeing a return to the event next year, by dedicated audience members and Guild fans.
Throughout the evening, the audience is almost as entertaining to watch as the performers themselves. During the pre performance, while nibbling on ghastly goodies and sipping mulled cider in the open air foyer, we noted that the spectators ranged in age from wide eyed middle school children all the way up to elegant grandmothers in Prada (due to frightening content and sometimes graphic Victorian violence, no one under 12 is permitted and those under 17 must be accompanied by a parent or guardian). Also in attendance were literary nerds and professorial types, comparing notes on how well they knew their Poe. And of course there were Steam Punks, EMOs and Gothics, dressed in their black frilled finery, complete with top hats, high lace boots and black lace parasols to guard them from... moonburn? Additionally, I noted at least one Gashleycrumb Tinies lunch pail in the stylish throngs.
All in all The Guild of St George, in collaboration with The Huntington Library, brings to life a dark and delightfully macabre montage in this single evening's offerings. Mark your calendar for next October 2011 and keep watch for the performance date by visiting The Huntington Library's website, or check out The Guild of St George for their other spectacular presentations throughout the year. For my own part I know, to willfully misquote Poe, I will be checking back "Forever more!"
About the Author
C.R. Manning is a Human Resources / Accounting professional, writer, artist and musician, living in the Los Angeles Metro area.
Eurovision 2008 San Marino: Miodio - Complice
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