Get to know the real Poe in locally produced play

With readings and staged scenes, the author's works come to life.
By L. CROW
VINDICATOR CORRESPONDENT
An original play written and directed by local playwright J. E. Ballantyne Jr. will premiere at the Victorian Players on Oct. 14.
"The Tell-Tale Poe" peers into the life and works of Edgar Allan Poe from a unique perspective. In this combination of readers' theater and dramatic staging, the audience will experience a wide range of Poe's writings, as they come to know the man as a person. Readings will alternate with staged scenes.
"This will be different than normal readers theater," said Ballantyne. "The readers will have book lights, and walk among the audience. There are 11 cast members, who will take turns reading, except for 'The Raven' at the end, when everyone will read." Ballantyne said that the short stories he has included will all be edited somewhat, but "The Raven," will be read in whole.
"The Tell-Tale Heart" is one of the gruesome stories of Poe to be included. "It is about a bed-ridden old man, who has one eye that is filmy," said Ballantyne. "His caretaker has nothing against the old man, but he can't stand the eye, so he kills him, chops him up, and buries him under the floorboards."
The softer side
Not all of the stories are quite this gory. "The Oval Portrait" is a story within a story, about a wounded man who comes to stay at an abandoned chateau, where he becomes consumed with a portrait of a young woman. Ballantyne believes this is really a story about Poe's own wife, who died of consumption. The poem "Lenore" is also believed to be about the death of Poe's wife.
Another poem, "A Valentine" is not about death, but about a woman with whom Poe may have had an affair. "The woman was a poet," says Ballantyne. "We are going to have a contest to see if anyone can figure out who it was."
Ballantyne says that the main character in the staged part of the play will not be Poe, but a hooded figure, who actually represents a real person. "Every year since 1948, a hooded figure has visited Poe's grave in Baltimore," says Ballantyne. "It is a Grim Reaper sort of character, wearing a black shroud, but without the sickle. It walks with a cane and appears every year on Poe's birthday, between 2 and 4 a.m. to leave a half bottle of cognac and three red roses. A while back, it left a note that said, 'the torch will be passed,' and the following year, observers could tell it was a different person."
Poe's real misery
Ballantyne said that there will be scenes that include Poe's early years with his stepfather. "Both of Poe's parents died within six months of each other, while Poe was very young," he said. "John Allen was a tyrant and made Poe's life miserable."
There are also scenes with Poe, his wife, Virginia, and his aunt, who was also his mother-in-law, as Poe married his cousin. Ballantyne said Poe never accepted his wife's illness until shortly before she died. A scene is also included about Poe's time spent as editor of a literary magazine, which gained him a bad reputation for bashing other writers.
Geno Blair, recently seen onstage at TNT as Nick Cristano in their production of "Over the River and Through the Woods," is playing Poe and says he is the first to admit he knew very little about him. "This gives me a chance to learn much more -- it's like stepping inside his mind," says Blair. "I like this play because it's original, and there are no expectations, nothing to compare it to."
Blair said he is seeing an aspect of Poe different than is usually portrayed. "I don't think he was crazy, like many people thought, just misunderstood," says Blair. "Some of his poems about women he loved convey raw human emotions. He was paranoid. His greatest fear was being buried alive. But he also wanted so much to be loved for what he was. Jack's play challenges the audience to come up with authentic opinions."