Introduction

When we toured My Uncle Arly to the USA in March 2005 I was interested to find out how popular Edward Lear was over there. I went into a children’s bookstore to look for one of his titles, but couldn’t find one, so I asked the shop attendant whether or not they stocked any Edward Lear.

She said, “Is he the guy Edward Gorey did some illustrations for? I think he is”, and walked towards one of the bookshelves in the corner of the shop. She handed me a collection of Edward Gorey’s illustrations – which included one for Edward Lear’s, The Jumblies.

Before I knew it I had looked through the whole book and was asking the shop attendant for more Edward Gorey. She found five or six of his titles and I spent the next hour immersed in his work.

By the time I left the USA later that month I’d bought every title I could find in every bookstore I walked into. On the plane journey home I kept returning to The Doubtful Guest and got hooked on the world of this illustrated story.

Edward Gorey’s fantastical imagination and creation of unusual and biologically questionable creatures are perfect inspiration for the theatrical world of Hoipolloi.

Shôn Dale-Jones
Artistic Director, Hoipolloi