Review: NIGHTFALL WITH EDGAR ALLAN POE at The Pocket Community Theatre

Welcome to October! To open up the holiday season of shows, BroadwayWorld headed to my favorite Arkansas town, Hot Springs, where we joined our friends at The Pocket Community Theatre to see NIGHTFALL WITH Edgar Allan Poe by Eric Coble and Directed by David Fleming and Jodi Tooke, who was styling in a Raven-esque gown for opening night. The production, which runs through Sunday, Oct. 13, is spooky, intoxicating, and keeps you leaning in for what was to come. This is a literary lover’s production, and even if you aren’t familiar with Poe, this is the gothic dream you didn’t know you were craving. 

NIGHTFALL is a collection of four well known Poe works broken up into two acts. To open, Poe (Bryan Miller) tries to convince himself and the audience that he is not mad. Then they launch into The Raven, which is a poem that tells the story of a grieving man visited by a mysterious bird on a dark, stormy night. The man, mourning the loss of his beloved Lenore, questions the raven, who only responds with the word "Nevermore." The man’s grieving grows stronger, and the madness consumes him.  

In The Fall of the House of Usher, the last survivors of this decaying family mansion invite their childhood friend (Sean Blakley) to stay with them. Both siblings are ill, and when Roderick (Adin Livingston) thinks Madeline (Zoie Roberts) has died, they bury her within the house, at which point I’m audibly telling the friend to flee from that place, but then – surprise – she's not dead and justifiably not happy. Then both siblings die, the friend hurries away, and the home collapses.  

After intermission, we see a woman (Ashley Reynolds – who gets my starry heart eyes for this scene) being thrown into a dungeon where she is tortured in various ways in The Pit and the Pendulum. The cell includes a deep pit in the center with a sharp, descending pendulum that threatens to slice her in half. Through sheer will and resourcefulness, she narrowly escapes these horrors, only to face other dangers. Ultimately, just as she faces her final peril, she is saved by soldiers.  

To end the set, they perform the Tell-Tale Heart where the servant (Alitza Cabibi-Wilkin) of an old man (Bryan Miller) decides to kill him because he has a menacing eye that haunts her. She tells about night after night that she tries to kill him and, ultimately, she does finally succeed. When she thought she can rest, the police (Betty Brown and Adam Maisen) come over for questioning after a neighbor hears the scream, and though I’m pretty sure she could have gotten away with it, she confesses because the heartbeat gets so loud in her panic-stricken head, that she feels she has no choice.  

This is definitely a thinker’s play and an exciting one at that. It was meticulously thought out, creating an atmosphere that seemed to seep into the audience. The mood was so menacing and believable that, for a moment, I feared these maddening thoughts could materialize in real life. Thanks a lot, guys!  

The minimalistic set made use of rotating walls of sorts that helped with barriers. The background projected different scenes, and there were places for actors to sit. The costumes were reflective of the piece, but of course, the raven was the most alarming, looking like it could come out of a horror movie. A haunted house should snatch up that costume for sure.  

The Pocket is one of my favorite theatres , and this was the best introduction into the Halloween season. You don’t want to miss this! For tickets, visit their website at https://www.pockettheatre.com. 

Creative Team 

Director – Jodi Tooke 

Assistant Director – David Fleming 

Producer – Bonnie Maisen 

Stage Manager – David Fleming 

Music Director – Emily Cooper 

Sound Design – Alitza Cabibi-Wilkin 

Sound Technician – David Landrum 

Light Design – Thomas Griffin 

Costume Design and Photographer – Kathryn Lightsey 

Props – Ann Leach 

Set Design – John Smid 

Stage Crew – Zoey Lawless & Iona Boyles 

Playbill – Jennifer Henley 

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