Book description
Gilbert Is Dead is a Victorian scientific mystery play: a clever, funny
and moving portrait of grief, faith and science. The plot follows Lucius
Trickett, London's most celebrated taxidermist, who finds himself in
cahoots with Queen Victoria and our hero Gilbert Shirley, to disprove
Darwin's theory of evolution with a stuffed specimen of the mysterious
ghost loris. But what happens when the missing link goes missing? Robin
French's distinctive, often surrealist voice characterised by
historically intelligent, meticulously researched subjects and a
precise, quirky sense of irony. Very clever, his writing presents an
academic, yet accessible, labyrinth, toying with history, scientific
theories and popular beliefs. He manages to experiment with form, style
and theatrical metaphor whilst also staying firmly rooted in narratives
which are engaging, affecting and provide astute social and human
comment. The publication of this programme text edition was published to
coincide with the world premiere at Hoxton Music Hall (4-29 December
2009), produced by the theatre company Shining Man. Robin French was
selected as one of six writers for Future Perfect (Paines Plough/Channel
4). In June 2005, Robin was the only writer to have plays in different
pods of the Flight 5065 project on the London Eye (AFRICA for The Royal
Court & PIGEON for Paines Plough).
