Edgar Allen Poe is best known for his tales of mystery and the macabre, which is what make his stories so fitting for this time of year.
And that’s precisely why Turlock’s Artistic Repertoire Theater Collaboration chose Poe’s works as the theme for their fall show — “Raven About Poe” — slated for Oct. 11 and 12 at the Carnegie Arts Center, 250 N. Broadway.
Tickets are $20 general admission and $15 for Carnegie members. Doors open 30 minutes before the 6 p.m. performances.
The A.R.T. CO-LAB will present six of Poe’s stories to be performed as six one-act plays. The stories adapted for the stage include “The Fall of the House of Usher,” “The Raven,” “The Tell-Tale Heart,” “The Facts in the Case of M. Valdemar,” “The Angel of the Odd” and “Hop Frog.”
Executive director Christiana Rhoads had already begun fleshing out the fall show, but her efforts were derailed in June by hip-replacement surgery. So, she began searching for something that was already written.
“Poe had only written one play and he didn’t finish it,” said Rhoads. “He wrote short stories and poetry.”
Rhoads found a company overseas — Scripts for Stage — that had adapted five Poe stories into plays, and she paid just over $200 for the royalties. She found another online that was adapted by an anonymous writer.
Playing the lead in just about every piece is Albert Martinez, a young actor who brings an emotional depth to each of the characters he portrays. During a recent rehearsal of “The Raven,” Martinez seemingly teetered on the brink of madness as he his character lamented the loss of his beloved “Lenore” with a talking raven.
Martinez first honed his acting chops at Atwater High School and then at Merced College, but only in the last year has he decided to get serious about the craft, with roles in “The Three Musketeers,” “Fiddler on the Roof,” and “The Music Man” in the Merced vibrant theater scene. Still, he’s a relative newcomer to Poe.
“I didn’t grow up reading Poe or anything like that. Just English class, but not very familiar with him, to be honest with you,” said Martinez. “But I did a little bit of research into some of his stuff, and that was interesting. I’ve developed an appreciation for him, absolutely.”
The rest of the cast consists of Carlo Martinez (no relation), Christopher Nunes, Rex Dwyer, Zoey Scarborough, Andrew Garcia and Jennifer LaMere, who is also a CO-LAB board member.
In addition to their stage roles, Nunes and LaMere, along with Melina Prull and Lauren Case, will play the parts of “lobby ghosts.”
“We’ll have lobby ghosts during intermission and pre-show,” said Rhoads. “They are primarily going to be singing in the lobby of the gallery. And they’ve got some pretty interesting, haunting versions of well-known songs. And when they’re not singing, they’ll be taking tickets, handing out programs, running the raffle … things like that.”
Tickets can be purchased at the door, or by visiting zeffy.com and searching “Raven About Poe.”
