By Michael Buzzelli
Edgar Allan Poe (Sam Lander) introduces four of his most famous stories in Lawrence C. Connolly’s adaptation, “Mr. Edgar A. Poe Presents: Tales of Mystery, Horror and Imagination.”
From the vast collection of work, the author and poet introduces us to four of his most famous stories: “The Murder of the Rue Morgue,” “Fall of the House of Usher,” “The Telltale Heart,” and his most iconic poem, “The Raven.”
Side notes from the program: The Baltimore Ravens are named after the black bird and the poem, to honor the author.
The four vignettes are each their own play-within-the-play, with a rotating cast of characters.
Lander makes a spectacular Poe. He immerses himself in a character sketch of the historical figure. From notes and essays, Lander, with playwright Connolly and director Arthur DeConciliis, pieces together a jigsaw puzzle of Poe. It’s a very distinct and interesting model of their subject. With their research, Lander plays Poe with a Virginian accent (with the help of dialect coach Lisa Bansavage), which adds a warm touch to the eccentric author. It’s a star turn for the young actor.
Alex Blair, Jenn Rian, Jess Uhler, and Justin Mohr play a variety of characters from Poe’s stories. In two spooky tales, Mohr plays Dupin, and Mrs. Smith acts as his Watson (Dupin predates Sherlock Holmes).
It’s a fine cast. However, the French accents are a bit thick and a little challenging to understand in the first vignette.
Uhler gets the only laughs in the show, playing Mrs. Smith with an irresistible charm.
Blair particularly excels when he’s playing the unnamed narrator of the “Telltale Heart.” His character goes from agreeable to agitated to aberrant. Toward the end of the tale, he is frenzied and insane.
Alex Barnhart’s set is a gothic wonderland, with the perfect mix of antique-looking furniture—special shout-out to properties designer Alex Keplar for providing a gnarled and very creepy gorilla hand.
The lighting and the lightning design by Jason Kmetic is phenomenal. During a scene transition, Kmetic creates web designs on the floor to keep our attention while stage crew moves beds, dressers and whatnot.
Costume designer Ricky Lyle manages to make a scary Raven without making it look too much like Moira Rose’s costume from “The Crows Have Eyes III: The Crowening.” Cah! Cah!
Connolly’s script could use a trim, and there are some unnecessary additions, including insertions of characters into scenes. For some reason, Connolly pilfers dialogue from Sir Arthur Conan Doyle and inserts it into one of Dupin’s monologues. It would have probably gone unnoticed if it wasn’t such an iconic line. In the final vignette, Lander could have simply narrated “The Raven,” and it would have been even more dramatic than this reimagined retelling.
While this show is not perfect, it is informative and entertaining. There is an educational value to this show that cannot be ignored. Like Vincent Van Gogh and so many artists and writers who were ahead of their time, Poe was a genius and underappreciated in his lifetime It’s good to know that he’s appreciated in the here and now.
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“Mr. Edgar A. Poe Presents: Tales of Mystery, Horror, and Imagination” runs until November 17 at the New Hazlett Theater, 6 Allegheny Square, Pittsburgh, PA 15212. For tickets and additional information, click here.
