An Online Streaming Video

This streaming video contains two excerpts from First Folio’s 2018 production of The Madness of Edgar Allan Poe: “The Tell-Tale Heart” and “The Pit and the Pendulum.” These performances were recorded live during a 2018 performance of the full-length production of The Madness of Edgar Allan Poe. Filming was done with a live audience in various rooms of Mayslake Hall, an historic, haunted mansion on the grounds of the Peabody Estate in Oak Brook, Illinois.
Run Time: 27 minutes

Adapted by David Rice
Directed by Skyler Schrempp

October 20 – November 1 ONLY

Tickets are available on a Pay-What-You-Can* basis, and anyone who purchases a ticket to any of the 12 offered evenings will receive a link and password that will allow them to watch the video at any time during that period.

Teachers may obtain access to this video for use in their classes free of charge. Contact drice@firstfolio.org for more information.

First Folio will also provide both teachers and individual ticket holders access to extra original content, including a study guide and two video interviews with Christian Gray (discussing what it is like to play a figure like Poe) and David Rice (discussing the process of adapting Poe’s works to the stage).

^{*Any amount paid will be considered a donation to First Folio Theatre. First Folio Theatre is a 501(c)3 Not for Profit organization and your donation is tax deductible to the full extent allowed by law.}

“A smart and heartfelt journey into the life and literature of the great American horror writer.” —Chicago Tribune ★★★1/2

“A masterful take on a master’s work.” —Daily Herald ★★★★

“Rich with both psychological depth and supernatural scares.”
—Examiner.com

“A perfect storm of theatre!” —ChicagoStageReview.com

The Story

“The Tell-Tale Heart” is one of Poe’s most famous tales. High up in a garret above the streets of 19th C Baltimore, a frantic, disheveled man tells the audience his story of being haunted by the “vulture eye” of an old man and how he resolved to rid himself of that terror. As he weaves his tortured tale, he slowly draws the audience into his own insanity…until a policeman arrives to investigate and events take an unexpected turn for everyone. Come join the journey into a man’s madness.

In “The Pit and the Pendulum,” audience members are led into a 15th C dungeon in Toledo, Spain, where an innocent man has been imprisoned by the Spanish Inquisition, sentenced to live out the remainder of his life in a stone cell. Plunged into darkness (along with the audience), the terrified captive struggles to discover, and survive, the dangers of his prison before he suffers a horrible death. This is an immersive story that will have audience members thinking about sleeping with the lights on for the next few evenings.

Credits

Original Music & Sound Design – Christopher Kriz°, USA
Lighting Designer – Michael McNamara°, USA
Costume Designer – Rachel Lambert°
Scenic Designer – Kyle Gettelman°
Movement Design – Michael Goldberg°
Stage Managers – Sarah West°* and David Rice°*

Featuring

Featuring Christian Gray°*, Sam Pearson, Mbali Guliwe, Josh Bernaski, Joel Moses

° Denotes First Folio Artistic Associate
* Denotes a member of Actors’ Equity Association, the union of professional actors and stage managers.

Located outside the United States?

As long as you can purchase tickets on our site and watch videos on Vimeo, you’ll be able to enjoy Madmen & Prisoners: Two Tales by Poe.