Nevermore - The Imaginary Life and Mysterious Death of Edgar Allan Poe - Grey Lantern Productions (1 December 2021)

An old adage familiar to writers is “write what you know”. Now, we can debate the soundness of that advice (it can and does lead to pedestrian material if another key ingredient, imagination, isn’t engaged) but what if all you know is loss, abandonment, and addiction along with an (un)healthy dose of the macabre? The result is the works of Edgar Allan Poe, a key figure in American literature. This dazzling production tells his story in a highly stylised manner through song and verse. It plays, to use modern film parlance, as a biopic covering Poe’s life from his birth, loss of his parents (mother died, father left) to the Allan’s taking him in to the various women in his life, to his struggle to be published, and eventually Poe’s death. It also asks the question about how much the creations of his imagination and life experience influence him by the fact of their very existence at his hand. It’s a heady brew.

I admit, it took me a while to lock into this production as it’s quite dense and demands your full attention. This was compounded somewhat by the onstage orchestra (more of them later but they played beautifully) sometimes obscuring the plentiful lyrics. Once it clicked for me though, it proved to be a wonderfully satisfying experience, theatrically and intellectually. It’s a smart show and director Lorna Mackie has created a precise and striking production. It’s no coincidence that the rehearsal period was twice the length of a usual undertaking.

The precision is evident in all departments. The look of the show is unique and arresting, from Therese Cruise’s memorable costumes (including the representation of perhaps Poe’s most famous creation, The Raven, which gave a couple of audience members heart palpitations at one point!) to the monochromatic makeup by Andrea Lim that adds an eeriness especially under Mackie’s lighting design. The set design is sparse to say the least in the black box space, deliberately so to enhance the performers’ look and movements. The orchestra under Musical Director Maddison Moulin adds so much mood and atmosphere with an excellent score, violin and cello at the fore. Choreography by Anita Lawrence is also sparsely utilised but when it is the result is hypnotic.

The show is structured using another filmic device – there is a key moment at the beginning where the Players assail Edgar Allan Poe (Cal Silberstein) before we flashback to tell his life story and eventually catch up to that point in time again where certain revelations are made. To aid this there is a literal Book of Poe’s life that each of the players will take turns throughout the show to narrate key moments in rhyming verse.

Silberstein is excellent as Poe representing his trauma and sense of loss through plaintive song and an aura of melancholy. Brief moments of joy are allowed to intrude when Poe is with his siblings or Elmira (Erin Craddock) who seems to be his true love and the one who understands Poe's darker impulses. Silberstein plays the most grounded character as larger than life figures swirl around him and there are times he literally pleads to the audience as he sings.

The other six “players” take on multiple roles as well as narrating duties. Daniel Burton brings gravitas and his booming voice to authority figures such as John Allan; Arianne Westcott-King generally plays the more sympathetic female characters from Poe’s younger sister to his wife (and cousin) Sissy who dies of tuberculosis. Simon Brett is always lurking as almost an omniscient presence with an excellent singing voice and Zac Bennett-McPhee is most notable as Poe’s brother Henry. Craddock brings a mischievously dark energy as Elmira while Charlotte Louise deploys an incandescent smile, enhanced by the makeup, in multiple ways – sinister, wickedly gleeful, occasionally sympathetic – as generally the mother figures in the story. The seven of them work wonderfully well together, vocally and in their highly coordinated movement.

The highlight is when all these elements fuse perfectly in a stunning rendition of the famous poem The Raven, performed as song. I confess, when the first verse began it was like a crackle of electricity straight from the stage to the audience.

Mention must go to the individual orchestra members who formed a character in and of itself at the back of the stage – Moulin, Shaun Davis, Jade Henderson, Jack Duffy, Suresh Manievannan, Emily Gelineau and Liz Moss. Book, Lyrics, and Music are by Jonathan Christenson.

There are only four more shows of this highly original and striking work – Thursday and Friday nights with two shows on Saturday at the Subiaco Arts Centre. I would recommend getting along to see this theatrical treat with a cracking cast and orchestra working in a beautifully staged environment.