shuddersome: tales of poe
The Little Theatre of Tuscarawas County
August 25, 2016 - September 4, 2016
Experimental / Black Box Slot
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Shuddersome: Tales of Poe is a one-act of selected works of Edgar Allan Poe that includes short stories and poetry. Adapted by Lindsay Price, spectres, ghouls and ghosts come alive in this vivid theatrical adaptation of some of Poe’s best-known works. This spine-tingling hour of theatre will have you glancing nervously over your shoulder as Poe’s words rise up like corpses from the grave. (Be careful. Do you hear that tap, tap, tapping?)
With Shuddersome I was able to flex my creative muscles in design, directing, and writing. Our production included an opening act of Poe adaptations written by me. "The Black Cat" featured a life-size, two-puppeteer cat puppet. "Consolation and Desolation," an interweaving of five poems that describe the journey from first love to love lost, featured four speakers whose voices melded over a musical underscore. "Cask of Amontillado" utilized the chorus to provide the setting of the scene, from the catacombs to the niche that ulimately entombed Fortunado.
Shuddersome: Photo gallery
All photos (c) and courtesy of Allison Gipson Morris
Shuddersome Promotional photo that was used in local media, featuring Poe surrounded by chorus members.
The narrator of "The Black Cat," who watches his memories play out and is powerless to change them.
The Man and the Wife in "The Black Cat" memory scenes, with the cat puppet.
Three of the four speakers in "Consolation and Desolation." Poems featured were "To Helen," "A Dream Within a Dream," "Annabel Lee," "Alone," and "Spirits of the Dead."
"Cask of Amontillado" opening monologue by Montresor
Montresor surrounded by chorus members.
Montresor and Fortunado converse while the chorus looks on.
Fortunado toasts to the dead that repose around him.
Montresor begins to bury Fortunado, help captive in the niche by chorus members.
Montresor begins to bury Fortunado, help captive in the niche by chorus members.
"I have heard things in heaven and in earth."
The poem "The Bells" utilized rear projection and shadows to enhance the reading. Pictured here is Golden Bells.
Perhaps my favorite image from the show-- Iron Bells took full advantage of light, sound, fog and rear-projection to enhance the already eerie poem.
"With its mad expostulation from the deaf and frantic fire," Brass Bells are trapped in a massive inferno with no way out.
"The Raven" used a main speaker and four other speakers as parts of this psyche to bring to life this poem of a lovelorn man's descent into madness.
"The Raven" featured minimal staging and a rear-projection painting of an abstract raven's wing.
The main speaker is tormented by the Raven, "perched upon the pallid bust of Pallas just above [his] chamber door."
The Narrators for "The Masque of the Red Death" were paintings, inspired by the work of J.S. Sargent.
"And while the pestilence raged most furiously, Prince Prospero entertained his thousand friends." I designed the costumes here, and adore the deconstructed skirts.
Death stalks among the party goers.
The ending of the show involves the cast stalking toward the audience, reciting a line from the show, building to an intense crescendo before the black out.