Performance Location: New Hazlett Center for Performing Arts
6 Allegheny Square E., Pittsburgh, PA 15212

Performance times are at 7:30 on Fridays and Saturdays, and at 2:30 on Sundays

Mr. Edgar A. Poe Presents: Tales of Mystery, Horror & Imagination

Written by Lawrence C. Connolly
Directed by Art DeConciliis

PLAYBILL

REVIEWS:
Pittsburgh Owlscribe - Halloween May Be Over but Don’t Bury the Horror Genre Just Yet

'Burgh Vivant - A Dream within a Dream – a review of “Mr. Edgar A. Poe Presents: Tales of Mystery, Horror and Imagination

ARTICLE: 90.5 WESA - For spooky season, a new play at Pittsburgh's Prime Stage Theatre revisits Edgar Allan Poe

Master storyteller Edgar Allan Poe reimagines four classic tales that reveal as much about the nature of horror as they do about the dark genius that created them.

November 7 – 16, 2025

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Run time is approximately 2 hours with one 15-minute intermission.

Friday, November 7th is Preview with Pay What You Can
Saturday, November 8th is Opening Night with our Post-Show Discussion

Opening Night Post-Show Discussion with Brett Rutherford, a fellow poet who has walked in many the same dark realms. Poe was his first influence.

WHAT INSPIRED THE PLAY by Lawrence C. Connolly
What makes this play unique and something that you have not seen before?

Mustachioed, piercing eyes, dressed in black—Edgar Allan Poe stares at us from the silvered surface of a faded daguerreotype. It is the face of a tortured poet destined for early death, but although the portrait was taken during the height of his struggle with depression and ill health, I can’t help thinking that it also reflects the writer’s intention to create a persona befitting the dark nature of his tales.

Poe’s penchant for performance art was well known in his day. Indeed, even as his stories thrilled magazine readers, he was packing theatres and lecture halls, captivating audiences with readings of his works and pondering subjects as vast as the mysteries of the universe. And it is that side of Poe that Prime Stage and I are bringing to life in Mr. Edgar A. Poe Presents: Tales of Mystery, Horror, and Imagination.

In our production, Poe takes centre stage, much as he did 175 years ago. Indeed, the words with which he opens our play come directly from one of his final lectures on the nature of human existence titled “Eureka” that is Edgar Allan Poe himself. The four tales featured in our performance become mirrors reflecting back on the poet, as he steps away from the podium, passes us through the looking glass, as we enter the world of his creations—all to see the man who lived, and loved, and lost, and as he endeavoured to comprehend the horrors and mysteries of life through the art of imagination

Cast

Cast Bios

Alex Blair as Officer Gaultier, Roderick Usher, and The Murderer
Alex is very excited to perform with Prime Stage again after previously appearing as "Alexander Schmorell" in The White Rose and "Jonathan Brewster" in Arsenic & Old Lace. Other previous roles include "Black Stache" in Peter and the Starcatcher with Bobcat Players, "Jack Worthing" in The Importance of Being Earnest with Old Schoolhouse Players, and "Tom Buchanan" in The Great Gatsby with Stage Warp Productions. Alex wants to thank director Art DeConciliis, as well as the entire cast and crew for making this such a wonderful experience.

Sam Lander as Edgar Allen Poe
Sam is excited to be back at Prime Stage playing Edgar Allen Poe. He is a Pittsburgh based actor who could most recently be seen in South Park Theatre’s This Random World, as K in an independent production of Franz Kafka’s The Trial, and Twelve Angry Men, and Great Expectations also at Prime Stage. He is a 2022 alumni of the ACADEMY at Black Box Acting in Chicago and a 2021 graduate of Point Park University’s Theatre Arts program. He would like to thank his partner Shelby Fink for being his biggest supporter (and critic) as well as his cat Chloe for not making this about herself, and his dog Maki for making it about herself.

Justin Mohr as C. Auguste Dupin/Wilson
Justin is ecstatic to be working with Prime Stage again after playing Guy Montag in their production of Fahrenheit 451. He graduated from the University of Pittsburgh with a BA in Theater Arts. Justin spent several years in NYC and Chicago performing with sketch comedy/improv groups, theater companies, and commercials. Justin has worked on several major films and TV shows. He was also in The Baristas, a Pittsburgh based web series that is on YouTube. Favorite past roles include: Jack Leading Ladies, Gary Lejune Noises Off, John Smith Run for Your Wife, Bernard Boeing, Boeing, and many others. Love and thanks to this cast and crew. Special thanks to his friends and family for their ongoing support

Jenn Rian as Douborg, Nurse and Raven
Jenn is honored to be making her Prime Stage Theatre debut. She has worked with community theaters and art organizations throughout Beaver County, including R-ACT Theatre Productions, Center Theatre Players, the Bobcat Players, The Genesis Collective’s Community Theater Project, and The Social Voice Project. Among her favorite roles are Marie Antoinette in The Revolutionists, Bella Manningham in Gaslight, and Lizzie Curry in The Rainmaker, all with R-ACT; Mary Pringle in Soldier, Come Home with Little Beaver Historical Society; and Sandra in The Play That Goes Wrong with Center Theatre Players. She appeared as Liz in the world premiere of So, There’s a Leprechaun Now? with R-ACT, which won Best Theater Production in City Paper’s 2024 Best in PGH Awards.Jenn has studied with Jaime Slavinsky of Ensemble Actors Studio. She has been a member of R-ACT Theatre Productions for nine years and has served on its executive board for the last three. Outside of theater, Jenn is a mother of two and a certified teacher of both yoga and the Enneagram.

Jess Uhler as Mrs. Smith, Madeline and Lenore
Jess is ecstatic to be performing with Prime Stage Theatre for the first time. In 2025, she was seen on stage in Jeremy Seghers production of The Trial by Franz Kafka, The Bay Of Fundy by David Adam Gill for the Pittsburgh New Works Festival and The Missing by John Mabey for The Becoming Arts Collective’s “Bridges and Stages” Festival. Jess is also a local actor in the independent film scene, working on features such as Godless Children, Massacre Academy, and The Boonies. She would like to thank her family, her partner Brent, and her friends for their endless encouragement, the Prime Stage team for this opportunity, and to the audience for attending and supporting theatre.

More Information

Edgar Allan Poe - Theme-technique, and legacy
https://www.britannica.com/biography/Edgar-Allan-Poe/Themes-technique-and-legacy

Edgar Allan Poe - Biography
https://www.biography.com/authors-writers/edgar-allan-poe

The Poetry of Edgar Allan Poe
https://www.poetryfoundation.org/poets/edgar-allan-poe

The Poe Museum - Richmond, VA
https://poemuseum.org/edgar-allan-poe/

Poe in Baltimore
https://www.poeinbaltimore.org/

Poe in Philadelphia
https://www.nps.gov/edal/index.htm

Poe in New York
https://bronxhistoricalsociety.org/poe-cottage/

Poe, Editor and Original Hatchet Man
https://lithub.com/edgar-allan-poe-editor-and-original-hatchet-man/

Poe the "Punny Poer - was a writer of comedy
https://poemuseum.org/poe-the-punny-poet/

Bizarre Facts about Poe ((YouTube)
https://youtu.be/A_QhtJ4veL0

Information on Playwright - Lawrence C. Connolly
https://lawrencecconnolly.com/