EDGAR ALLEN

by The Coldharts

Review by Paige Anderson

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This mesmerizing production is a potent reminder of how magical live theatre can be. In this brilliant fever dream of a play, part Gothic fable and part musical, steeped in the ornate language and cadences of Poe, the young Edgar Allen’s ambition to rise to the top of his class, and to dominate and control his classmates, is challenged by a whispering usurper, also named Edgar Allen, who steals his opportunities to shine.  Who is this interloper? Does he even exist?

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The luminous and preternaturally gifted Katie Hartman appears utterly possessed by the spirit of a young Edgar Allen Poe, portraying him as a volatile child prodigy with a sparkling combination of manic intensity, obsessiveness, paranoia, and glee.  “I am of an overly excitable nature,” he concedes. The scenes are interspersed with music; Hartman’s Edgar Allen sings like an angel, accompanying himself improbably but beautifully on ukulele, sometimes joined by – sometimes interrupted by—doleful cornet playing by Nick Ryan’s other Edgar Allen. Chilly and brooding, imperturbably calm, speaking only in a hoarse whisper because “it’s as loud as I can speak,” Ryan’s deliciously creepy doppelganger is equally compelling as Edgar Allen’s friend/nemesis.

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Although suspicious, Edgar Allen accepts his rival’s offer of friendship, and the two embark on an adventure “over the wall,” because, as he sings blithely, “Everything fun is a little bit dangerous … everything dangerous is a little bit fun.” The two agree to reveal to one another their “deepest darkest secrets,” but the resulting conflict sets into inevitable motion a denouement that is quintessential Poe.