A macabre evening is promised featuring works from the master of of the genre. The Edgar Allan Poe Speakeasy is a “chilling cocktail experience” dedicated to celebrating his style and literary works. This interesting entertainment is currently traveling the United States visiting many cities. I happened to catch this one during a weekend of performances in South Bend.
The show consists of a little Poe history care of an emcee. Two actors also perform four pieces: The Tell-Tale Heart, The Raven, Masque of the Red Death and The Black Cat. Each segment is paired with a cocktail. Hence the Nevermore beverage denoted by “quoth the raven, drink some more”. The cocktails were surprisingly decent and nicely varied.
The overall concept is good one. Experiencing these short stories as interpretive monologues with appropriate mood settings is a easy way to reconnect with these famous stories. The performers here were giving their all, sometimes leaning on excessive emoting which can be fun but also suggests an acting competition gone bloody mad.
There is a definitely a built in audience for this. I caught the final show of a three day weekend schedule. My tickets were for the 10:00 pm frightfest and the ghouls were out. Quite a few fans were dripping in gothic inspired garb. This was the third show of the night and all of them seemed to be sold out (about 300 or so guests).
I enjoyed the Tell-Tale Heart and Black Cat best of all. The venue here was generic church rent-a-space but it still worked well enough. Imagine a real speakeasy environment, even better staging and some crisp direction. This widely appealing idea could become a great diversion for a enticingly themed, grim and grisly night out.
I am certainly moving my unread copy of The Complete Tales of Edgar Allan Poe to the front of my summer reading list. He is just so creepy and good, dismemberments and all.
Tickets are being sold for The Edgar Allan Poe Speakeasy through June 14, 2024 in many cities around the US.