I was startled to find a theatre, a venue, in North Hollywood of which I had no clue. Yet there it was. Home of the Ark Theatre Company, and with only a handful of very personal (and quite comfy) seats.
The show, as I knew going in, proved to be a (mostly) one man show by a friend of mine. Edgar Allan Poe IV (that is his real name--a direct descendant of the great poet's brother). In a nice touch, PoeZEST purports to be a one man show by a struggling actor descended from Poe, who then becomes possessed by his revered ancestor. What follows allows us in a way to hear about Poe's life from his point of view. Many might be startled to hear a slight Southern drawl from the manpi, but he was from Virginia after all.
Poe as a character discusses his reputation, his life, and does readings/interpretations of his works. One of these, "The Cask of Amandillado" I've seen performed before but never so well. Truly, in that one the full horror of the tale actually comes forth and actually engenders discomfort. I almost squirmed in my seat! Still more extracts and readings follow, all very well done with considerable fire. Many interpretations have I seen of Poe, on stage and film, but this one has the most passion, the most genuine darkness and yet the most pathos. This Poe is not some emo, but a fierce and arrogant genius whose life drowns in tragedy, while he himself wears a mask of witty rage to keep his own despair at bay.
PoeZest runs three more performances (for now)--Friday, Saturday and Sunday at 8pm until July 7, 2019 at the Ark Theatre, 5708 Lankershim (about four blocks north of the NoHo Metro Station), North Hollywood, CA 91601).
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