Dawidziak suggests a Poe Halloween

Poe actors (from left) Tom Stephan, Sara Showman and Alex J. Nine.

The Largely Literary Theater Company’s The Tell-Tale Play, a two-act collection of poems and stories by Edgar Allan Poe, returns to the Kent Stage for two performances, at 8 p.m. Friday and Saturday, Oct. 17 and 18. The shows will be staged as benefits for the historic downtown Kent theater.

“This is not only an ideal way to celebrate the Halloween season and Poe, whose 200th birthday is in January, it’s also a chance to support this fabulous Kent landmark,’’ said Mark Dawidziak, the former BJ critic who is artistic director and co-founder of the Largely Literary Theater Company.

The Largely Literary Theater Company was founded by Dawidziak and wife, Sara Showman, in late 2001. In addition to A Christmas Carol) and The Tell-Tale Play, the company offers shows based on the works of such authors as Mark Twain and Robert Louis Stevenson..

Designed for high school students and older, the play features three popular area actors – Tom Stephan, Showman and Alex J. Nine. They interpret Poe’s works, telling the audience along the way about the writer’s short but eventful life and career.

Tickets are $10 general admission, $8 for seniors and stduents. For reservations, call 330-677-5005 or go to www.kentstage.org. The Kent Stage is located at 175 East Main Street.

Three of Poe’s classic short stories are presented in The Tell-Tale Play: “The Tell-Tale Heart,” “The Cask of Amontillado” and “The Masque of the Red Death.” Also included are three of his major poems: “The Raven,” “Annabel Lee” and “The Bells.” Other poems in the play are “Alone,” “Eldorado,” “Dreamland” and “Spirits of the Dead.”

The set for the Largely Literary Theater Company production is relatively simple. The lights go up on three lecterns – one covered in rich velvety material – arranged before a succession of black curtains. There are three chairs set behind the lecterns, with assorted pillars, candelabra and gothic set pieces establishing the mood. The three actors enter, dressed in period costumes, acknowledge each other, open their scripts, then Showman steps forward, stopping down stage and center, to welcome the audience.

Before the first offering, Stephan’s interpretation of “The Tell-Tale Heart,” the three actors take a moment or two to tell the audience about “Poe’s brief, brilliant and tortured life.” Born in Boston on January 19, 1809, Poe “spent only 40 years on this planet,” yet he “found the time to create the detective story and write a couple dozen of the most influential horror stories ever put to paper.”

Dawidziak, the company’s artistic director, is the TV critic at the Cleveland Plain Dealer. His 11th book, The Bedside, Bathtub & Armchair Companion to Dracula, was just published. (See our earlier post) His previous books include a novel, Grave Secrets, and such non-fiction works as Mark My Words: Mark Twain on Writing, The Columbo Phile: A Casebook, The Barter Theatre Story: Love Made Visible, The Night Stalker Companion and Horton Foote’s The Shape of the River: The Lost Teleplay About Mark Twain.

For bookings, contact Dawidziak and Showman at the Largely Literary Theater Company: 330-923-8350 or at hlgrouch@sbcglobal.net