Review: THE EDGAR ALLAN POE SPEAKEASY at Revolution Stage Company

‘The Edgar Allan Poe Speakeasy - what’s that?’ I thought, when I saw the ad pop up on my Instagram, ‘Poe’s dark tales with cocktails inspired by the story?’ After reading more, it turns out I was 100% correct (I mention only because I like it when that happens.) I was intrigued by the concept and, judging by the huge turn out, so was the entire Coachella Valley. The Revolution was packed with people thirsty for Poe at 6pm on a Thursday night with a line out the door waiting for the next show.

I spoke briefly with Producer Ryan Austin Wieczorek before the show about the concept, which is not the company’s first creepy speakeasy, “Our first was a show called Boozy Cauldron. It is an immersive wizard experience, a play on Harry Potter and all that wizard-y witchy stuff. We made potions and we had an actor playing a professor of the dark spirited arts.” 

Incorporated in Tampa, Florida, all of Midnight Creative’s shows are an immersive experience, with The Edgar Allan Poe Speakeasy having been created by Wieczorek’s partner Julia Tirinnanzi who is currently touring with one of their five troupes in other cities. Their other immersive and boozy shows to keep an eye out for are Haunted Tavern, Gothic Authors Cocktail Club, and Shipwreck Saloon (coming to Palm Springs August 1 & 2 at Fuego).

And now, onto the Poe experience. 

The lobby was full of eager patrons as they looked for their tickets on their phones to show to the lanky gentleman at the door. We enter to a dark and spooky theatre, candles in different sizes glow at the foot of the stage, and lighting designer & tech maven, Mariah Pryor has given the room a dark, eerie blue-ish glow as if everything is lit by moonlight. 

The bartenders are busy behind the long bar, mixing up cocktails as we choose our seats. My companion wants front row, and I oblige although I don’t care for aisle seats or front rows because if there’s audience participation, I don’t want any part of it. Don’t get me wrong, I love it, my nervous system just prefers not to participate. 

The concept is one matching cocktail for each of Poe’s four chosen stories: The Tell-Tale Heart, The Black Cat (gird your loins, cat lovers), The Raven & The Mask of the Red Death. We are served our first drink, which is passed down each row until everyone has one. I notice one of our servers is the gentleman at the door, another is Wieczorek and there’s one other gentleman assisting. 

As the show continues, we come to learn that there are five people (six if you count tech) putting on the whole shebang (in this case he-bang) - starting with our Poe Historian, producer Wiezcorek again. And the guy at the door? That’s actor Patrick O’Sullivan who gives us two of Poe’s stories, and “the other gentleman” serving us is actor William Draven, who takes the stage to give us our first story, The Tell-Tale Heart (as well as, later, The Mask of the Red Death.)

Draven has a lot of energy as the man beleaguered by a glass eye, and the heart that won’t stop beating even after death, and we get it full force right from the beginning as we sip our first spooky cocktail (mocktail for me) with a “blue eyeball’ (blueberry) as a garnish. Behind Draven is a very cozy, yet dismal Victorian living room set and a wonderfully spooky projection, With no disrespect to the production, that was so cool it was my favorite part. 

The next drink is passed while a curated music track plays (Wieczorek tells me if you listen closely the tracks foretell the next story, but I knew none of them. I’m on the younger side of old. Didn’t matter though, still good) the actors and producer pass drinks, and then Wieczorek takes the stage to tell us the story behind The Black Cat. He plays with the audience a little bit, and that is another favorite part of the evening. The audience loves it, and plays back. Then O’Sullivan takes the stage with a lilting brogue, all jitters and madness as he describes the horrors he has committed. 

There are two more tales after this one with drinks to match. Each story had its own media screen, and they are marvelous, with items and creatures appearing and disappearing like a spooky game of Where’s Waldo. Fantastic.

After the show, I spoke to a couple of guests who quite enjoyed it, but our show was at 6pm, and most people I spoke with thought there would be nibbles to go with the booze (it was a bad assumption on all our parts) and were a little hammered. So eat before you go.

My biggest note on the production is the direction. Both actors start out at such a fever pitch (loud and crazy respectively) that there’s nowhere to go from there. That ends up getting a little shouty and buzzy on the body mics making the words difficult to understand at times. The set could also have been used to better advantage, but that may be because they normally don’t have a set, however the actors could have easily incorporated those elements to make it more of a stage show than just an emotional recitation. And remember I said I don’t like to be part of audience participation? Wieczorek is a delightful emcee/historian and does a great job playing with the audience, who after a couple of drinks is completely into it. Me too. More of that please. Same note to the actors, the audience is primed for you.

It was definitely a fun and creative experience and kudos to the cast/crew, and our bartenders Billy Svenson and Jonny Svenson, for putting on a live touring show with over 100 guests, at four cocktails per person, and then jumping up on the stage to perform (bring some cash to tip your staff - they also take Venmo). If you’re looking for something fun, different, and spooky, and you like to get your booze on, this is absolutely for you. 

For touring information for The Edgar Allan Poe Speakeasy, click here.

For more information on their other touring shows go here.

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