Experience a live radio recording of an adaptation of Edgar Allan Poe’s drama “The Mystery of Marie Roget” for free at the Enoch Pratt Free Library on March 9.
You can be in the studio audience as The National Edgar Allen Poe Theater records their adaptation of the drama with live sound effects and original music, creating a “theater of the mind” experience for attendees and listeners.
“The Mystery of Marie Roget” is the second story in Edgar Allan Poe’s Auguste Dupin mysteries. Dupin and his assistant investigate the unsolved murder of Marie Roget, a young Paris perfume store worker.
The script was written by James Comtois and directed by Alex Zavistovich.
The first in the Dupin mystery series, “The Murders in the Rue Morgue,” can be heard on Baltimore’s NPR affiliate WYPR by clicking this link.
This live radio production is a partnership of The Enoch Pratt Free Library and The National Edgar Allan Poe Theater, the only theater in the world dedicated to bringing Poe’s works to live onstage, on the air, and in the classroom in Baltimore and beyond. The theater’s “Poe Theater on the Air” audio dramas have won awards from the Hear Now Festival and from The International Edgar Allan Poe Festival.
Poe’s connection with Baltimore runs deep. The writer met his wife and launched his literary career here, creating a legacy proudly embraced and nurtured by the city’s residents and institutions. His home has been turned into a museum in downtown Baltimore, the city’s NFL football team is named after his famous poem “The Raven,” their team mascot is named “Poe,” and his gravesite was visited annually for decades on his birthday by “The Poe Toaster” — a mysterious, anonymous figure who would leave three roses and a bottle of cognac at Poe’s tombstone.
The National Edgar Allan Poe Theater’s website describes the three pillars on which it bases its success:
- Tourism and an enhanced visitor experience for Baltimore,
- Education, specifically English language literacy for underserved young people, and
- Responsible development and inclusivity.
For more information about the National Edgar Allan Poe Theater, please click this link.
There will be two seatings for the March 9 recordings: one at 11 a.m. and the other at 2:30 p.m. Tickets are free, but registration is required because space is limited. For tickets, click this link.
The Enoch Pratt Free Library is located at 400 Cathedral Street, Baltimore, Md.
