Electric Poe spotlights R.H. Wilhoit’s sinister signature in latest cemetery staging
Courtesy Coterie Theatre
The Coterie’s annual Halloween production of Electric Poe is back this year, and once again we’ve got a review that boils down to “Stop reading this and just go see it.”
For newbies, Electric Poe is a one man show that runs under an hour, where an adaptation of a few of Edgar Allen Poe’s works are given a dramatic adaptation—accompanied by a single musician who sets the tone for squeezing blood from the stone of 1840s short stories and poetry. The show (that we’ve been covering in some form or another since 2009) had a breakthrough during the 2020 lockdown, where the production moved outdoors—and into Union Cemetery [227 E 28th Terr]. This year, the show has returned to captivating audiences, come sundown, at one of the city’s most beautiful overlooks for the deceased.
The show remains impeccable because all other elements sort of fall to the wayside when actor R.H. Wilhoit is given the chance to work his magic. Wilhoit is a perennial favorite here at The Pitch, and his appearances in most KC productions are highlighted for stealing the scene from everyone else on stage. Here, alone in the spotlight, it’s always just a delight to watch what happens when he takes the reins for the evening. He could read the phonebook, and we’d still be in rapt attention… etc., etc. He gets it, you get it—we are fans.
In keeping E.P. fresh this year, a new framing device sees The Actor embody Poe’s rival writer, and eventual ward of his legacy, editor Rufus Griswold. Rather than stacking Poe himself against his work, this outsider perspective that revels in self-destruction and jealousy, slashing out at the shadow of a dead man, reframes the entirety of “The Raven” as a personal slight. The antagonistic framing is clever on a scale that probably could float its own, separate play down the line.
Musician Benjamin Hart joins this year as the accompaniest, live looping keyboards, guitars, and guttural mouth sounds into a waxing/waning soundtrack that goes a step further this year—operating in lockstep with Wilhoit on “The Raven” portion of the show and doing wonders for creating a sonic wall that never threatens to overpower the leading man’s pointed performance. Of all the years we’ve been catching the show, this is perhaps our favorite synthesis between The Actor and The Score.
In this 2024 version, Poe’s tale “William Wilson” takes a large chunk of the runtime, falling after the wrapper and “Raven.” Wilson’s tale is one of the duality of man, blended identities, and a grudge between two sides of the same man, made split by violent, fearful inadequacy and boorish classism. It’s a perfect match to the structure of the ideas front of mind with the Griswold framing, and one of those lesser-touched Poe works is interesting to explore. Unfortunately, its structure is such that there’s a looping setup and pay-off that simply repeats too many times without heightening the stakes, creating moments of lull in a production that usually feels like it’s steamrolled its way to the finish line. The quality and talent on display remain consistent with everything E.P. is known for, so this sorta boils down to saying that one of Poe’s lesser works is indeed a bit of a clunker. It’s a minor ding on the show, offset entirely by the joy of seeing The Coterie continue to take chances on evolving variations of a piece that could just as easily play it safe by staying the same, year after year.
Electric Poe at Union Cemetery runs through Sunday, Nov. 3, 2024. Tickets are available here. Grab your fam, a lawn chair, and a little time to watch the sun go down and our favorite ghoulish thespian come out to revel in the witching hours.
