A TELL-TALE HEART Beats For Public PlayTime October 22

Pittsburgh Public Theater will present Alec Silberblatt's new rendering of Edgar Allan Poe's stories, A Tell-Tale Heart as part of the Public PlayTime: Classics N'at benefit series October 22-25. Nearly 24,000 audience members have joined the virtual benefit series since its inception in March.

Silberblatt's play represents the second of six paid commissions of Pittsburgh-based playwrights this season, honoring The Public's commitment to offering Pittsburgh artists paid opportunities as the region battles the COVID-19 pandemic.

Public PlayTime donors will receive private access to the reading on Thursday, October 22 at 7pm ET as well as access to a recording of the reading through Sunday, October 25 at 10pm ET. Complete details and links to donate are available at PPT.ORG/PLAYTIME.

"As a performer, Alec Silberblatt's work is always full of heart and deeply honest. His characters are charming, understated, and just sweet enough to lure us into a dark story or two. As a playwright, he is entirely rigorous. It's hard not to be fooled by how relatable his characters are, how logically his stories unfold. In some ways, they seem simple. But as a writer, he diligently captures the sounds of the Pittsburgh dialect in a poetry that may seem effortless, but is full of careful observation and tender attention. Each play is a bit of a love song to the secret corners of this city. If you listen closely, you can sense the refrain of images and steady rhythm of ideas creating a profound melody for each 'simple' character. In the tradition of so many great playwrights before him, like Tennessee Williams or Conor McPherson, Silberblatt uses the dialect of his region to reveal his characters' depth and complexity, as well as their unshakeable connection to this place."
-Marya Sea Kaminski, Artistic Director, PIttsburgh Public Theater

The works of American writer Edgar Allan Poe have been translated into several languages ranging from French to Japanese. For the first time, Alec Silberblatt (Public PlayTime's The Mon Valley Medium) will translate Poe's unique macabre voice to the signature Western PA dialect of Pittsburghese. Silberblatt writes and performs in a chilling one-person play titled A Tell-Tale Heart, reimagining themes from several Poe stories from the point of view of a simple Yinzer named Gene. Gene introduces us to his sweetheart Lenora, his collection of kooky neighbors, their various creatively named pets, and the disturbing cycle of violence threatening to envelope each of them, all while tuning out the mysterious thumping sound haunting him.

An estimated 2,000 students from 25 Western PA and eastern Ohio school districts are expected to view the reading through The Public's Virtual Open Stage student matinee program, supported by EQT Foundation. Classroom teachers receive additional pre-show videos, post-show workshops, and other resources to enhance the educational experience. To inquire about participating in the Open Stage program, contact edu@ppt.org.

Donations start at $10, which includes the live reading on October 22 at 7pm ET and recording through Sunday, October 25 at 10pm ET. Donations now being accepted HERE. Subscribers should visit PPT.ORG/Subscribe for information on their PlayTime benefit and "Playwright" Donors will receive an email with their information.

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