Halloween might be over, but virtual scariness is still available for those who tune into the College of Lake County’s free live Zoom showings of “Twisted Tales of Poe.” And it’s opening on none other than Friday the 13th.
Directed by CLC theatre department chairman Craig Rich, “Twisted Tales of Poe,” combining four poems and stories written by Edgar Allan Poe, runs at 7:30 p.m. Nov. 13-14, Nov. 19-21 and at 2 p.m. Nov. 15.
Rich is psyched to be directing the play because, as he said, “My aesthetic tends to be a little darker.”
He’s long been a fan of Poe because of his macabre subjects, poetic language and ability to tell a great story.
Playwright Philip Grecian”Twisted Tales of Poe,” combining four poems and stories written by Edgar Allan Poe, runs Nov. 13-21 live on Zoom. took four Poe pieces, “The Tell-Tale Heart,” “The Cask of Amontillado,” “The Black Cat,” and “The Raven,” and put them together in a 1940s radio broadcast style, with live music and scary sound effects.
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During the performance, the audience will see how the sounds are made using wind machines and other homemade devices. Among the paraphernalia being used to create scary noises is a wind machine made of a wooden cylinder with a heavy piece of fabric over it.
“When you turn the cylinder, it makes it sound like wind,” Rich said. “The wind can be slower and can be faster.” Other sounds include footsteps, creaky doors and the raven’s wings. “One of our actors is making all of the cat sounds, screeching, purring,” Rich said.
Eleven student and community members are working together to tell all four stories. Actors will be in costume. Virtual scenery will be shown on green screens and two members of the cast will specifically work on all the sound effects. Performers will be in their own homes during each live presentation, and have been learning a lot about technology to make it work via Zoom, Rich said.
“The play is set up in a way that the characters at the beginning are all in jail,” he said. “These people have been arrested for the things they have done and they are sharing their stories. As they’re telling the stories, they come to life. They go from being the storyteller to then being one of the characters in the story.”
Rich said Edgar Allan Poe is one of America’s greatest poets.
“These stories, while they are suspenseful and scary, also have such beautiful poetry,” he said. “We’re spending time looking at the language.”
Rich said he’s also working with the cast to follow the journey of the character they are portraying into a dark place. “You start to understand why they do some of the things they do — even if it scares us,” he said. Among the most bizarre of the four stories is “The Caretaker,” Rich said. It’s a tale about a woman taking care of an older gentlemen. “But there’s something about one of his eyes. It’s evil and she fixates on this eye,” he said.
Rich said suspense and horror are popular genres right now. Perhaps that is because everybody is feeling anxious, he said.
“In some ways Poe taps into that anxiety. I think people will relate to some of these characters, because of the current circumstances we’re in,” Rich said.
“We can relate to the characters, not to some of the horrible things they do, but to the psychology of what they’re feeling … Many of us are feeling some of those same things — locked down, stuck at home. We’re looking at the world a bit differently.”
Rich said the play isn’t meant to take the audience into a dark place. Rather he considers watching it as a momentary escape.
“In some ways, it might be cathartic,” he said. “That’s the purpose of a lot of classical (works.) We come out with a sense of catharsis. We’ve learned something or we’ve experienced some emotion that allows us to find some peace or distraction.”
Rich said the show is free because the department wants to make it accessible to everyone.
“We want people to see what our students are doing. We’re trying to stay engaged,” he said.
‘Twisted Tales of Poe: The Radio Play’
When: 7:30 p.m., Nov. 13, 14, 19, 20, 21; 2 p.m., Nov. 15
Where: Virtual Live via Zoom
Tickets: Free
Information: www.clcillinois.edu/events/the-arts-events
Sheryl DeVore is a freelance reporter for the News-Sun.