What I liked
I applaud the total commitment to going all in on Poe. I haven’t heard “The Raven” since I was in Junior High, so it brought back some fun memories of when I had to memorize parts of it from back in the day.
What I didn't like
If I’m being totally honest… this piece was a bit too repetitious for me. After the first two “bells” pieces at the beginning, I started zoning out. For me, how cool would it be for the performer to combine his own life’s journey with that of E.A.P. or find some kind of link to the man he is portraying? Now that would be fascinating! That would be MORE than just performing Poe’s work. For my taste, I need more of a reason to care about the show itself. As a person who doesn’t have the biggest interest in E.A.P. (or Bob Dylan for that matter), I wanted more of a hook, more of a reason to really join the artists on this show’s journey (even though I’m not really sure what that exactly was).
My overall impression
An original performance piece capturing the works on Edgar Allan Poe (from his most famous work “The Raven” to lesser known ones). Complete with various forms of music (a Bob Dylan song performed in the style of Poe, an autobiographical song about Poe sung in a Dylan-esque voice), and a funky dance… I’d say it’s an experimental, interpretive Fringe show.
