It wasn’t quite a case of ‘everyone’ saying “I’m Spartacus!” but having two Edgar Allan Poes (Sammy Overton and Morgan Smith) came across to me as a little overkill, even if the show wanted to make a distinction between Poe ‘the man’ and Poe ‘the myth’. In a play with songs – surely if they wanted it to be known as a musical, they’d have tacked ‘The Musical’ onto the end of the show’s title – the cast doesn’t overdo the melodrama that often goes with stage adaptations of the macabre stories Poe (1809-1849) was known for.
Here, the show takes Poe’s short story The Fall of the House of Usher as the springboard for what might have happened to Poe in his final days. The known facts are briefly explained in a late scene: he was discovered outdoors, distressed and incoherent, dressed in someone else’s clothes, and admitted to hospital. He was not in a position to explain how he ended up in such a state, and he died a few days after he was found. The celebrated author had, according to the production’s narrative, “no friends” in the sense that he preferred his own company, which perhaps goes some way to explaining his substantial literary output.
Those familiar with The Fall of the House of Usher will notice this show’s heavy reliance on it, as well as other Poe stories – and, more pertinently, anyone who has never read any of them will have (more or less) everything explained. This, of course, means those in the former category (of which there could be quite a few in the audience on any given night, as the show will naturally be of most interest to people who enjoy Poe’s writings) might find things are a tad overexplained, but as I hope to never tire of saying, there’s nothing wrong with a storyline that’s easy to follow.
The inclusion of songs and a playfulness in the storytelling meant that the evening wasn’t as foreboding as it could have been. Or maybe the real world in the mid-twenty-first century has become so unhinged and frightening that nineteenth-century fiction intended to intrigue and entertain can’t quite spook those of us who are already spooked. I couldn’t help thinking how improbable certain details in the story were. Being introduced explicitly to the idea of an ‘unreliable narrator’ was unnecessary – the audience is able to work that sort of thing out for themselves.
Where the show does succeed is in its technical aspects, bringing together lo-tech and hi-tech still and moving projections and seamlessly incorporating them into a slick and well-drilled production – the audience was never left waiting, even for a second, as the action rolled on. The production never feels overstretched: the team have bitten off more than they can chew. Heavy on costumes and light in terms of set – a wheeled structure that doubled up as a doorframe and roller blind was the only other thing besides a large screen – it is a surprisingly light-hearted night out.
Review by Chris Omaweng
The death of Edgar Allan Poe remains one of literature’s great unsolved mysteries. Through music, movement, projections, and shadow play, this theatrical experiment follows Poe through a haunting and hallucinogenic re-imagining of his final nightmare. This exploration of the life, death and legacy of Poe combine themes and characters from several of his most infamous stories and poems into “the story Poe never wrote.”
Cast: Kilian Crowley, Maya June Dwyer, Moxie Dwyer, Sammy Overton, Morgan Smith
Matt Chiorini and Greg Giovanini (writers, directors, music)
Maya June Dwyer (choreography)
Lindsey Voorhees and John Czajkowski (production design)
Kylee Galarneau (costume design)
EDGAR IN THE RED ROOM
The Hope Theatre
3 to 14 February 2026
