This was another marathon theatre weekend with shows opening in three different venues. Playcrafters Barn Theatre’s offering is Murder by Poe by Jeffrey Hatcher and is an adaptation from the works of Edgar Allan Poe stories. Pam Cantrell, a well-known Quad Cities actor, makes her directorial debut with this script and, as a first effort, delivers a show worth watching.
The plot revolves around a woman who gets lost in a dark wood on a stormy night and stumbles upon an eerie house where she seeks shelter. She comes to find that it is filled with murderers. As the strange figures inside share terrifying tales, the lost woman must figure out the mystery of the house and the identity of the mysterious man who let her in. The script weaves in elements from "The Black Cat," "The Tell-Tale Heart," "The Murders in the Rue Morgue," "William Wilson," "The Purloined Letter," "The Mystery of Marie Roget," and "The Fall of the House of Usher".
While it isn’t requisite to be a Poe super-fan, those of you who are rabid followers of America’s master of the macabre, likely will have a leg up on those of us who are not. My own exposure to Poe consists of a high school reading assignment of “The Cask of the Amontillado” and brief flirtations with “The Raven” and “Annabelle Lee.” Personally, I would have enjoyed it more if I was a little more familiar with Poe’s works.
Except for the roles of Detective C. Auguste Dupin, portrayed by Drew DeKeyrel, and the woman, played by Julia Sears, this is an ensemble cast that takes on multiple roles throughout the show. An element I really liked was Cantrell’s costume design of dressing all the characters in black accented in most cases with blood red accessories throughout the show.
Set design is austere with only a spooky entrance to the house where the woman seeks shelter, a small writing desk, and a very large bed placed center and down stage on the thrust, also black and red. It was only used, however, in one of the segments and presented an awkward obstacle for blocking of the rest of the show. All the action takes place on the thrust and once again projection onto the scrim in the proscenium was employed to enhance the action.
Murder by Poe continues at Playcrafters Barn Theatre, 4950 - 35th Avenue in Moline, Friday and Saturday August 14 and 15 at 7:30 p.m. and Sunday, August 16 at 3:00 p.m.
If you don’t take advantage of this opportunity to see this show: “Quoth the Raven, Nevermore.”
I’m Chris Hicks…break a leg.