Core Theatre, ODU students serve up witty 'Poe Project'

By Montague Gammon III
Correspondent
Two semesters of theater workshops between the Core Theatre Ensemble and Old Dominion University students have generated an interesting and often fun two-act dramatization of five Edgar Allan Poe works called "the poe (n. proj-ekt)."
The show uses something like "story theater " style, where performers can switch easily between narrating and playing characters. Act 1 serves up three unfamiliar bits of Poe's under-recognized humorous wordplay and wit, "Lionizing," "The Angel of the Odd" and "Diddling." (The word "diddling," in Poe's vocabulary, means swindling.)
The familiar phrase "the thousand injuries of Fortunato...," ushers in "The Cask of Amontillado" to begin Act 2, which closes with Poe's unsettlingly masterful bit of foreshadowing, "Hop-Frog."
This is a fully completed piece of theater, not a work in progress. Students and ensemble members alike define their many characters clearly, make clean transitions between the multiple roles they take in each segment and usually maintain a good pace.
Some bits of Act 1 seem a bit redundant, where total fidelity to Poe may hinder dramatic interest. However, there's nothing superfluous in the second half of the show.
The full performing company is made up of Jeremiah Albers, Edwin Castillo, Nancy Dickerson, Emel Ertugrul, Jon Norton, Nick Trahan, Cayley Waldo and Alba Woolard. ODU grads Castillo and Ertugrul are founding members of the ensemble, and their experience shows in the extra dimension, force and crispness of their acting. Castillo is especially remarkable as the deformed and abused royal jester "Hop-Frog."
Though the youthfulness of the student actors is evident, so is their talent and their focus on their performances.
In addition to the obvious collegiate and theatrically interested audiences, "the poe project" could also be ideal for high school and middle school students, especially if Act 1 was a bit shorter. It could easily tour to local schools, to the delight and benefit of drama and literature students alike.
 
Montague Gammon III,
montague.gammon@gmail.com