EDGAR A. POE’S LAST CALL

Camden People’s Theatre

★★★★

“a haunting homage that keeps Poe vividly, painfully present”

Scott Robinson, an American actor, writer and producer, delivers an accomplished performance as the troubled writer and poet Edgar Allan Poe in Last Call an atmospheric hour-long blend of poetry, music and storytelling. Framed around the final moments of Poe’s life, the piece begins not in the theatre but in the bar – an apt setting for a man long reported to have struggled with alcohol. Here, Poe introduces himself to us with disarming warmth. He is confused, certainly, but not the caricatured madman or hopeless drunk of popular imagination. Instead, Robinson presents a man on the cusp of a second chance, speaking of his intention to remarry.

Once we move into the studio space, Poe’s geniality remains, but it is joined by loneliness and a deep sense of torment. Robinson guides us through an edited version of Poe’s life, interspersed with readings from his poems and nods to his wider body of work. The grief, loss and ghosts of the past haunt this Poe just as his stories would later haunt generations of readers.

Robinson’s Poe is warm, witty and tormented, a refreshingly human take on a literary giant. His portrayal does not lean into the anxious, unreliable narrator familiar from Poe’s short stories. Instead, what we see is a subtler, more human figure – a choice that suits the intimacy of Camden People’s Theatre studio space.

The sparse set enhances the haunting mood. Browns dominate, with a single glowing yellow lantern at the forefront inviting us to sit “deep into the darkness peering” as Poe rifles through his faded cream papers and his hoard of lingering memories. It is a minimalist staging, but everything has purpose, and the dark costume design of Jevyn Nelms fits seamlessly within it.

Allison Casey’s sound design, paired with original music by Dale Stuckenbruck, conjures noises both real and imagined as fragments of Poe’s past drift in and out like half-remembered dreams. Tina Marie Seera, James Smillie and Morgan DiTaranto provide recorded vocal textures that break up the tone, while Robinson punctuates his own performance with snaps, claps, and slams that sustain the tension.

Jacqueline Scaletta’s lighting design is subtle yet bold when required. Blue lamp light and sudden washes of red during Poe’s more grotesque recollections add emotional colour without overwhelming the space.

For those familiar with Poe’s work, Last Call offers particular pleasures. A must see for Poe fans, the solo show is rich with references, readings and atmospheric detail. Robinson references well known works such as The Tell-Tale Heart and delivers a compelling reading of The Raven. Shannon Patterson’s direction keeps the piece tightly constructed and well paced, yet it ultimately feels more like a reverent portrait of Poe than a deeper interrogation of the human condition, leaving us questioning why this story is being told now, and by this version of Poe.

Still, that is a minor quibble. The piece fits the fringe festival ethos beautifully and would sit just as comfortably at literary festivals. Poe – who spent most of his life in financial hardship and achieved global, lasting fame only after his death – thanks the audience for keeping him alive as the final poem, the mournful Annabel Lee, closes the evening with a reminder of the love and loss that shaped his life, and the dilemmas of judgement and criticism that shaped his legacy.

The play is a haunting homage that keeps Poe vividly, painfully present, and is to be recommended.