The Edgar Allan Poe Speakeasy
A Rare and Unique Taste Of Culture In South County
It’s sometimes difficult for me to find the arts down here near the beach in Rhode Island. Sure, it’s picturesque and yesterday I did make two nice bird sightings (great crested flycatcher and chimney swift) but like any seaside community it’s ultimately populated by three distinct groups: locals, retirees and vacationing tourists (even more so as the summer arrives and the migrating birds are replaced by license plates from Connecticut, New York and Massachusetts). I am not a member of any of those groups. When people ask how I like South County I have a pat answer: “It’s beautiful but boring.”
So, the “Edgar Allan Poe Speakeasy” immediately jumped out at me. The premise is simple, and to my mind, genius: a performance of four of “The Master of the Macabre’s” short stories each with an accompanying custom cocktail. I love literature and have been known to enjoy a drink. My brother grabbed a couple of tickets as a birthday present and it was on.
We arrived for the second performance on opening night (the “Speakeasy” delivered six shows over a three-night run, all eventually selling out) at the Narragansett Arcade, a former movie theatre (more to come on the venue in a future edition) in the Narragansett Pier area. A line soon formed behind us with many dressed in either Poe or Speakeasy era outfits including one woman clutching a copy of the writer’s collected works. I nudged my brother and said, “Hope she’s not looking to get that signed.”
Entering the “Speakeasy,” we were greeted by a portrait of the artist as a young man on a lobby desk suitable for a funeral home viewing. Eerie music played as we took our seats and in no time were delivered our first round by a waiter that we’d soon learn was a member of the four person cast. “Pale Blue Eye,” the match to Poe’s classic, “The Tell-Tale Heart,” was our first libation and like the rest of the evening’s offerings it was simply fantastic. I’d be hard-pressed to pick a favorite, though “The Cat’s Meow,” purportedly sourced on a favorite Brandy Milk Punch of Poe’s and served prior to the performance of, “The Black Cat,” is something I’ll undoubtedly try to replicate when the chilly nights of autumn arrive.
As for the performances, the deliveries were suitably dramatic, at times treading close to over the top, but that felt appropriate for a writer with Poe’s style. Prior to each story a bit of Poe’s biography was shared which was particularly well delivered with a focus on the sad role that tuberculosis played with important relationships in his life. A good laugh was elicited when the assembled were informed that Poe once married his 13 year- old first cousin and informed, “And, just so you know, here in modern Rhode Island, that in Poe’s time… that was just as fucked!” His child bride would eventually succumb to, of course… tuberculosis.
Following the performance we met and chatted with a member of the cast, the lovely Emy McGuire, and gained some insights on the production. Apparently, there are a number of troupes performing this show and that this had been the first night that these four actors had ever performed together, a fact that made the seamlessness of their presentation even more impressive. Their production company’s home base is Orlando, FL and most of the performers have varied resumes that include theme parks, cruise ships, and in McGuire’s case even a Renaissance Faire. She said they stay primarily in Air B&B’s and subsist entirely on audience gratuities. It was interesting to get the inside scoop on a modern day traveling revue, a reminder of the etymology of the word, “trouper.”
The enthusiasm of the audience, as well as the ticket sales, give me hope that there is the potential for culture higher than a clam cake from Monahan’s and a cold Shaidzon Sea & Sand beer (both of which I highly recommend) here in South County. In the meantime, I am pretty sure I just heard the call of the fairly common American fish crow outside my chamber door. Not quite “The Raven,” but close enough and after all, I have already seen one of those this week and it was splendid.
