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Culture Theatre

Poking into Poe

TERROR created by Ann Powell and David Powell, directed by Mark Cassidy (Puppetmongers/Threshold Theater). At a mystery location revealed to ticket holders. To November 11. $20. 416-469-3555. See Continuing, this page. Rating: NNNN Rating: NNNNN


Puppetmongers’ Ann and David Powell venture beyond all-ages puppetry in their highly imaginative site-specific exploration of two creepy stories, one by Edgar Allan Poe, the other by David Ives.

The less said about the show’s set-up the better suspense is one of the production’s biggest strengths. After meeting at a secret location and then travelling through dark alleys and spookily empty corridors, we meet Poe’s Roderick Usher (Patrick Conner), who entices us further and further into his haunted world full of mystery and madness.

The audience is limited to about 25 people. We trek up and down stairs, pass around secret notes, take part in an impromptu crayon colouring session and watch and listen as spectral figures flit by, as close as our shoulders.

It’s all lots of fun, especially the final sequence, when our senses are teased and tickled until a great reveal. Conner, decked out in pink-lensed glasses, gets to the tell-tale heart of Poe’s paranoid protagonist, while director Mark Cassidy and the deadpan cast of supporting players do a spectacular job of disorienting us and suggesting a lot with a little.

glenns@nowtoronto.com

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