Harrisburg Shakespeare Company Presents POE: MUCH OF MADNESS, 10/5-7

Harrisburg Shakespeare Company will present "Poe: Much of Madness" which will run Friday, Saturday, and Sunday, October 5 – 7 at 7:30 p.m. Performances will be held at Gamut Classic Theatre on the Third Floor of Strawberry Square, Downtown Harrisburg.

Experience the intensity, terror, and excitement of some of Edgar Allan Poe's most treasured works, including The Raven, The Cask of Amontillado, Annabel Lee, The Masque of the Red Death, and The Tell-tale Heart! Five actors use music and movement to bring these and other tales to life on stage in this haunting and memorable original-text adaptation of the original Master of Horror's most celebrated stories and poems!

David Ramón Zayas, Director, shares why he chose to showcase the works of Edgar Allen Poe at Gamut. "I've had a long-lasting love of Poe's work. His stories and poems have been closely tied to my entire performance career. I have a sheer love of the material and a need to share that love and hopefully pass it on to others."

The pieces being highlighted in the show take place in many varied places and different times, and there is no specific location or period. The powerful moods, timeless themes, and incredible imagery in Poe's works will be the focus. This will be done by using minimal props and by having actors use their bodies to actually create the scenery around the other characters. One of the most distinguishing aspects of the concept for this show, however, is probably the manuscripts. While it is a memorized performance, the actors use bound black books to help tell these stories. These books, like the actors themselves, double as parts of the world the characters find themselves in. At times, a book might be a mask, at others, a bottle of wine, it might also help create the sounds of the story. The books almost become as important an aspect of the performance as the actors themselves, as they also serve as a constant reminder that every word spoken in the show was first written, as a story or a poem, by Edgar Allan Poe. They help give the audience and the actors a constant connection to the text.

Gamut Theatre Group is led by Artistic Director Clark Nicholson and Executive Director Melissa Nicholson.

"Poe: Much of Madness" will be presented at Gamut Classic Theatre in Strawberry Square from October 5-7 on Friday and Saturday at 7:30pm and on Sunday at 2:30pm. Tickets are $12.