One Man Poe

 

One Man Poe

The first thing that strikes you about One Man Poe, a performance of four of Edgar Allen Poe's pioneering gothic tales, is the sheer spectacle of such a tremendous feat of memory. The stage is largely bare, just a few props here and there to suggest location. Your focus and concentration is entirely directed toward our actor, on whose shoulders the evening will stand or fall. It's almost criminal that his name doesn't appear on the flyer or the Watford Fringe webpage, as this truly is his performance.

His name, as you can learn by visiting the Threedumb Theatre website, is Stephen Smith, and his modesty could well be one of the reasons the production does not only stand but soar. Horror works best when there is a chilling sense of uncertainty. Mystery and suspense are essential to its grip on the audience. The anonymity of the actor assisted in his startling transformations, beginning as a straight-jacketed madman frustratedly arguing his sanity in The Tell-Tale Heart and closing as the bent and decrepit old man of the popular poem The Raven. He fully inhabited each character, creating a unique voice, stance, attitude and emotional backstory that not only perfectly matched Poe's intense, haunting language but actually helped illuminate it for the spellbound audience.

The Black Cat was a beautifully understated study of how even soft-hearted animal lovers can turn into cold-blooded murderers, but the tour de force was The Pit and the Pendulum, a prototype for the 'torture porn' subgenre we see now in films like Saw. Fetishistic and frightening details of a man being sadistically driven to his death by the Spanish Inquisition are painfully spun out in Poe's heavy, complex prose. It was at times a struggle to follow, but Smith's careful attention to the rhythm of the language helps guide the audience as he dramatises with visceral movements and rich emotional expression the action of the story.

Equally important to the storytelling are the magnificent lighting and sound which create an eerie, tense atmosphere and punctuate the monologues with layers of visual and aural action that drive the plot forward. In many ways, they become the second character in each scene, demanding attention and interaction with ghostly, supernatural force.

I especially enjoyed the choice to show the actor preparing for their next role on stage. Shrouded in dim light, with mirror and make-up to hand, we watched Smith alter his appearance and transform from one character to another before our eyes. Far from destroying the magic of theatre and mystery of horror, it emphasised the idea that we all have these characters inside us, that we all play many parts in our daily lives and can change from one person to another on the turn of a coin. Chilling.

There was a lack of connection between actor and audience initially, which is not entirely inappropriate to horror, but as a consequence it felt awkward applauding at the end of each scene. Indeed it was not until the very end of the evening that we saw Smith's own sparkling personality shine through. The intensity of Poe's language was also a little exhausting to be submerged in without a sense of context. I would have liked Smith to build a rapport with the audience, expounding a little on Poe's biography and background (itself a frightening tale) before going into each piece. He could do for Edgar Allen Poe what Simon Callow does so superbly for Charles Dickens, popularising and dramatising him for a broad and grateful generation. Poe's works are nearly 200 years old and without that guiding hand these recitations might remain rather niche, but with it they will surely garner the attention and admiration of theatre goers of all stripes.