Baltimore's WYPR to Stream Edgar Allan Poe's THE MURDERS IN THE RUE MORGUE This Month

The National Edgar Allan Poe Theatre and Baltimore NPR affiliate WYPR-FM are teaming to stream the theatre's live production of Poe's “The Murders in the Rue Morgue” on January 19, 2024. Commemorating the author's 215th birthday, the production will go live that day at 7:30 AM, on Poe Theatre's WYPR stream: https://www.wypr.org/podcast/poe-theatre-on-the-air.

“The Murders in the Rue Morgue” is the first of Poe's three detective stories that The National Edgar Allan Poe Theatre plans to adapt as radio dramas this year. The others in the series include “The Mystery of Marie Roget” and “The Purloined Letter.”

Recorded live at the Poe Room in the main branch of the Enoch Pratt Free Library in Baltimore's Mount Vernon, “The Murders in the Rue Morgue” tells the compelling story of how two local Parisian women met their end at the hands of the most unlikely perpetrator in American literature.

First published in the April 1841 issue of “Graham's Lady's and Gentleman's Magazine,” “The Murders in the Rue Morgue” introduced readers around the world to C. Auguste Dupin, Poe's brilliant French detective. The story created the detective genre and was the inspiration for Arthur Conan Doyle's Sherlock Holmes.

“We've made some artistic decisions in adapting the Poe story for radio that Conan Doyle also made when taking inspiration from Auguste Dupin for his Sherlock Holmes character,” explained National Edgar Allan Poe Theatre's Founder Alex Zavistovich. “Unlike Watson and Lestrade in the Sherlock Holmes stories, Poe gave no backstory, or even names, to Dupin's biographer and police prefect. That's not the best formula for radio drama, so we've created an entire world surrounding Dupin, where the supporting characters are more fleshed out.”

Adapted for radio by Caroline Bennett and directed by Alex Zavistovich, “The Murders in the Rue Morgue” features both live and recorded sound effects, with original music and sound design by James D Watson. The production's characters are voiced by Adam R Adkins, David Hanauer, Jimi Kinstle, Melanie Kurstin, Jennifer Restak, and Alex Zavistovich.

The “Murders in the Rue Morgue” was made possible by the Enoch Pratt Free Library, RavenBeer, DC Dogs, the law offices of Faegre Drinker, the technology company Avaya, LINK Strategic Partners and the Baltimore Office of Promotion and The Arts.

The next radio drama in the three-part series, “The Mystery of Marie Roget,” will be recorded live over two performances on March 9 at the Enoch Pratt Free Library in Mount Vernon. Free tickets can be reserved here: http://tinyurl.com/yckj23e4

ABOUT THE NATIONAL Edgar Allan Poe THEATRE

The National Edgar Allan Poe Theatre is the only company in the world dedicated to adapting the works of America's grandfather of horror and suspense onstage, on the air, and in the classroom, from its home in Baltimore, MD. Throughout the COVID-19 pandemic, the company produced monthly radio drama adaptations of Poe's stories as part of its Poe Theatre on the Air initiative. The award-winning audio drama programs are carried on Amazon Music and National Public Radio, among many other platforms. (www.poetheatre.org)

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