Edinburgh Fringe 2024
One Man Poe: The Black Cat and The Raven
Threedumb Theatre
Genre: Drama, Horror, One Person Show, Theatre
Venue: Greenside Riddles Court
Festival: Edinburgh Fringe
Low Down
Stephen Smith in top form in a lovely rendition of popular Poe pieces
Review
Edgar Allen Poe was an acclaimed American writer from the first half of the 19th century. He is probably best known for his Gothic Horror style of writing.
Stephen Smith is performing four pieces of Poe works in pairs on alternate days. This show looks at his renditions of The Black Cat and The Raven.
The Black Cat journals the demise of a man through alcoholism. Smith is already in situ upon entry, sat at a desk, attempting to write but in turmoil and apparently wracked with frustration. When he finally addresses his audience, he immediately holds us in his grasp.
We learn that our protagonist had a wife, a servant and a menagerie of pets, including a dog, a rabbit, curiously a monkey and a black cat. The cat (Pluto) is his favourite, being sagacious and despite the superstition about black cats being witches in disguise, his wife cares for it too.
By nature a kind and tender man, his temperament deteriorates due to alcoholic excesses. Domestic violence ensues and he begins to neglect and ill-treat his pets. When Pluto bites him in retribution for an attack, the man cuts out one of his eyes. The man is contrite, but this is fleeting and he eventually hangs the cat from a tree.
The following day the house is ablaze and the humans barely escape with their lives. The only item left intact when the ashes have settled is one wall, with the detail of a cat with a noose around its neck.
Acquiring a replacement, a series of events see him murder his wife and conceal the body within a cellar wall. Upon a police visit, his crime is discovered when a wailing is emitted from within the wall. The wife’s body and the cat are discovered.
Smith remains on stage, subtly changing the set and rapidly using make up, is transformed into the narrator of The Raven.
He is substantially older now and his physicality is frail. He has lost his love, Lenore. He is reading late at night, in the midst of a storm, when he hears a knock at the door. When he makes it to the door, there appears to be no-one there. Is it the spirit of Lenore ?
The knocking continues, this time at the window. When he opens it, a raven enters and adopts a position on top of a bust. When the protagonist addresses the bird, it is able to answer with one solitary word “nevermore”.
The narrator seeks understanding of the situation, but finds none. He is enraged when he asks the raven if he will hold Lenore in the afterlife, to the inevitable response “nevermore”. He reaches the conclusion that the raven is casting a shadow over his mortal soul.
These classic Poe tales are told with nuance and striking ability by Smith. The transformation from one character to another was little short of astonishing. The pace of the narrative was relentless, Smith self-directing. A terrific Fringe production, highly recommended.
