The Madness Of Edgar Allan Poe: A Love Story Reviews
Chicago Reader- Highly Recommended
"...It helps that Poe's words are so delicious and that Gray and Bittner are supported by a strong ensemble. Director Bryan Wakefield has found actors who embody Poe's work forcefully and gracefully, releasing the dark passion in his dark romanticism and walking that perilous line between reveling in Poe's gothic grotesqueries and descending into indulgent scenery chewing. Will Burdin performs a version of Poe's well-worn short story, "The Tell-Tale Heart," to die for."
Around The Town Chicago- Highly Recommended
"...Pleasant Home, in Oak Park, Illinois, has been transformed into the supreme backdrop for immersive theatre in the production "The Madness of Edgar Allan Poe: A Love Story." Here we are whisked back in time to the nineteenth century when Poe wrote his tales of romance, crime, illness, torture, and death. In the main lounge, we witness excerpts from such masterpieces as "The Raven", "Masque of the Red Death", and "Annabel Lee" (among others) while, in the smaller rooms, we see reenactments of "Ligeia", "The Tell-Tale Heart" and "The Pit and the Pendulum." These retellings are nicely interwoven with intimate portraits of Poe and his wife Virginia. And during the course of the show, we learn that Poe's dark stories and poems are usually thinly veiled autobiographical accounts, often with an added dimension of horror: popular with the audience of his time as well as today."