On Oct. 20, an ensemble of five actors and actresses from the Rose of Athens Theatre performed an excerpt (twice) from their production of “Nightfall with Edgar Allan Poe”. The scene they chose to perform was a rendition of Poe’s “The Tell-Tale Heart”, which tells the story of a man’s descent into madness during which he kills his elderly companion, then confesses the crime to police upon hearing the old man’s heart beating under the floorboards. “The actors used projection to show the murder of the old man and several other key moments through shadows. An element of comedy was present in the otherwise horror-themed piece in the performance of the two police who arrive on scene to investigate the murder,” head coordinator Kathleen McGovern said. Photo by Julie Alpaugh.
By EVERETT VEREEN – Print Staff Writer
The Rose of Athens Theatre’s traveling performance of “Nightfall with Edgar Allan Poe: The Tell-Tale Heart” started out strong, but took a big turn for the worse in the latter part of the plot.
Performers from the Rose of Athens Theatre came to Clarke Central High School on Oct. 20 to perform an adaptation of the Edgar Allan Poe classic, “The Tell-Tale Heart”. The traveling performance was one of many events that made up Poe-tober, a venture funded by the National Endowment for the Arts’ Big Read program and spearheaded by Dr. Melisa Cahnmann-Taylor, professor of language and literacy education at the University of Georgia.
The performance was built as a “trunk show”, where all set and costume pieces could effectively fit in someone’s car. This led to a minimalistic set, consisting of merely a chair, a bench, two white screens and a projector positioned behind one of the screens. Despite the sparse stage, the actors and actresses were able to make it seem fuller, using descriptive dialogue and pantomiming.
The lead character and narrator, Poe himself, was played by Virginia Simmons. In the story, Poe serves as a caretaker for an old man, portrayed by Cindy Nason. Disturbed by the old man’s “vulture eye”, Poe slowly reveals his plans to kill the man, while simultaneously attempting to convince both the audience and himself that he is sane.
The beginning part of the show, which contained a number of invisible props, was the only time when the simplicity of the set felt like it was taking away from the immersion. Luckily, the dynamic between Simmons and Nason and superb pacing made up for what was lost. The old man would occasionally freeze in place to allow Poe to elaborate his murderous plot, creating a neat pause-and-play effect, similar to the TV series “Saved by the Bell”.
The performance continued at a steady pace with a few murder attempts until Poe finally burned the old man alive, then proceeded to stuff his corpse under the floorboards. Poe’s subsequent journey on a downward spiral to insanity was masterfully exhibited by Simmons, bringing a wonderfully dark and disturbing vibe to the stage. However, that vibe was then ruined by the introduction of the policemen.
The policemen, played by Helen DeMott and Gary T. Moore, entered the stage like a blinding beacon of unwarranted humor in a pitch black room. Moore, in particular, spoke at an ear-numbing volume, eclipsing DeMott, and spouted out senseless banter, which came off as both confusing and unfunny. The interjection of attempted comedy brought the show from wonderful to subpar, at best.
While the show was by no means perfect, it did have some enjoyable parts, as well as a lot of potential. However, had it not been for the sudden shift in mood — if Moore was simply removed from the equation — “The Tell-Tale Heart” would have been a near masterpiece.
