MADNESS MADE FLESH
I’ve seen several performances of Edgar Allan Poe’s poems and short stories over the years, but none compare to the artistry, intensity, and total immersion Stephen Smith brings to Poe’s descent-into-madness characters in One Man Poe at the 2025 Hollywood Fringe Festival. The production is divided into two one-hour shows, each featuring two of Poe’s macabre masterpieces. Part I is “The Tell-Tale Heart” and “The Pit and the Pendulum.” I saw Part II: “The Black Cat” and “The Raven.”
When I walked into the intimate Broadwater Studio theater, Stephen was sitting at a small and simple table in a back corner with crumbled papers littering the floor around him. Then slowly he brings forth a man descending into madness as he attempts to compose a summary of the sequence of his life as an alcoholic who commits acts of great violence when drunk, often aimed at his beloved pet, a black cat totally devoted to him.
"The Black Cat"
His terrifying tale starts off seemingly innocent until his drunken madness builds up to the horrendous crimes he commits against the innocent animal and his wife, for which he will pay the ultimate price the following day. Of course, the cat manages to get its revenge! Poe’s ability to portray madness overtaking a man’s heart and soul was brought to life with overwhelming fright and horror, thanks to Stephen’s total immersion in the role—conveying each mental unraveling with every ounce of his being.
During a musical interlude between the two pieces, Stephen transforms himself into an elderly recluse in a dressing gown with a one blind eye in full view of the audience. Taking a seat in a chair on the opposite side of the stage, he begins to bemoan the death of his beloved Lenore, which has caused him to become a recluse. Then on a dark and stormy night, the old man slowly descends into a terrorized victim of “The Raven” who torments him with a single word, “Nevermore,” for eternity.
"The Raven"
I was completely riveted by Stephen’s performance—so intense and focused, you could hear a pin drop in the audience. The storm sound effects heightened the eerie atmosphere as the sinister Raven perched on the Bust of Pallas above the chamber door, while Stephen’s creepy delivery of its single, haunting word added to the growing sense of dread.
The two pieces in Part II are related in that an animal in each one leads to the emotional undoing of the man telling the story. And Stephen inhabits them brilliantly, his English accent raising the classy spookiness to the hilt.
If you are attending the Edinburgh Fringe Festival this summer, be sure to catch One Man Poe, performed to perfection by Stephen Smith, who won the Best Horror Solo Show of Edinburgh Fringe 2024.
"The Tell-Tale Heart"
photos courtesy of the artist
One Man Poe
international tour
reviewed at the Hollywood Fringe Festival on June 17, 2025
for details, visit Hollywood Fringe
plays the Edinburgh Fringe August 1-23, 2025, Greenside @ Riddles Court, Willow Studio
for more about the history of One Man Poe and video clips, visit Three Dumb Theatre
for more tour dates, visit Facebook
"The Pit and the Pendulum"
