Nevermore
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Running Time: 60 Minutes Venue: Thu, 06/03/2010 - 09:00 Sat, 06/05/2010 - 07:00 Sun, 06/06/2010 - 02:00 Thu, 06/10/2010 - 07:30 Fri, 06/11/2010 - 08:00 |
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Is this apparition a muse or the harbinger of death?
From Twilight Productions
Show Description: Nevermore begins in the last conscious moments of Edgar Allan Poe as his tortured soul laments to his “still-alive corpse” about the “fever called living that burned in his brain.” Fast forward 160 years when a suicidal writer finds herself in the presence of The Raven, who offers insight on writing and madness and how the two are related. This fantasy/drama depicts the troubled rock-star life of America’s original literary gem, while examining the terrifying grip that depression held on him and many other fallen American writers.
Most Fringy Thing: What if the ghost of Edgar Allan Poe spent his afterlife visiting famous American suicidal writers, such as Hemingway, Plath, and Thompson? In this drama about creativity and depression, a writer whose last words are a suicide note meets the Father of the Macabre himself to discuss her irreversible decision.
Artist/Company Bio: Indianapolis-based Twilight Productions is a “hasn’t made a profit yet” company. It was founded in 2008 by Amy Pettinella for actors and writers, who are tired of lame mainstream plays and plays that feature women in insipid and vapid roles. Amy has written and produced several plays for Twilight Productions, including Stripped, Con Art, Home, Winter Solstice, Nevermore, and the upcoming Veg-All: A Sort of $@*%ed-Up Brady Bunch. Twilight Productions: Passion. Substance.
Hails from: Indianapolis, IN
Previous Fringes: Indy Fringe (2007 I Am Another You, 2008 Stripped, & 2009 Nevermore).
Critics' Reviews
Reviews
CityBeat Review
by Jane Durrell
Critic's Pick
Is poetry just for English majors? Nevermore says no, that playgoers can tune into iambic verse just fine. (Shakespeare was onto that, too.)
Although writer/director Amy Pettinella plays the feminine role in this two-character piece, she gives the best lines to her co-actor, Russell McGee. No surprise: He’s playing Edgar Allan Poe, no stranger to good lines.
Read the rest of the review here
Enquirer Review
Just skip "Nevermore," a self-indulgent celebration of a whiny, suicidal novelist who is visited one night by the shade of Edgar Allan Poe (who manages to elevate his dialogue, although he doesn't look tubercular). Amy Pettinella is credited as writer, director and co-starring as whiny novelist. She doesn't perform any of her roles competently.
Read the rest of the review here
TheConveyor Reivew: Nevermore
Nevermore, a play by Amy Pttinella and presented by Twilight Productions, tackles the formidable topic of the mental state behind great writers and does so with the life of Edgar Allen Poe. Poe's sad lifestory is summarized during his haunting of a modern day writer's attempted suicide.
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In case You Want to Get Serious
rating systems:
1=Disappointed 2=Enjoyed 3=Recommend 4=Encore
Fringe rating
FRINGY=what you only expect to see at a Fringe festival
FRINGIER=even at a Fringe festival you think- wow, that
was different
FRINGIEST=pushes the boundaries of what you ever see anywhere
NEVERMORE
Randy 3* Suzana 3*
If you long for some drama on your Fringe journey, this is
the play. This is a dialogue between the contemporary failing writer
and the ghost of Edgar Allan Poe. Together they cover much of
the dark side of the creative process and how and why those blessed
with creative genius are often cursed with demons as well. Poe's
ghost punctuates his side of the conversation with impressive quotes
from "The Raven" which underline his view of the world perfectly.
Well written, well acted and something I would not be surprised to
see in 'regular' theater (which is why it gets no Fringe rating.)
CityBeat Preview
Full article here
by Jane Durrell
Amy Pettinella, playwright/director/ costar of Nevermore, says Edgar Allan Poe’s greatest mystery was his death. Researching Poe’s life led her to writing this play about him and American writers in general. They appear to court their own deaths, she feels, but she promises funny if sardonic moments and possible free shots of absinthe, Poe’s drink of choice, to the first dozen audience members.
Pettinella and Russell McGee make up the twoperson cast; the time is both 19th century and the present. Premiered at IndyFringe in 2009, Nevermore is also touring to Fringes in New Orleans and Chicago.