Shuddersome: Tales of Poe

adapted by Lindsay Price Canadian Author from Edgar Allan Poe

The thumping of a heartbeat. The creak of a door. The howl of a bitter wind. The gong of a clock tower. The clang of alarm bells. The sound of beating wings getting closer and closer…

Specters, ghosts and ghouls come alive in this vivid theatrical adaptation of some of Edgar Allan Poe’s best-known works. Included are The Tell-Tale Heart, The Raven, and The Masque of the Red Death.

Poe’s words rise from the page like corpses from the grave. Be careful. Do you hear that tap, tap, tapping?

Multi-length versions of the script to fit every need.

Drama Choral Work Classical Adaptation Movement-based Mystery Reader's Theatre

Average Producer Rating: 5.0 out of 5

Recommended for High Schools and Middle Schools

Running Time

About 45 minutes

Approximate; excludes intermissions and scene changes

Cast

34 Characters

4 M 5 F 25 Any Gender

Doubling Possible

Productions

Produced by 560+ schools

Licensed by schools and youth theatres around the world

Set

Simple Set

Length

51 pages

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Performance Royalty Fees

Royalty fees apply to all performances whether or not admission is charged. Any performance in front of an audience (e.g. an invited dress rehearsal) is considered a performance for royalty purposes.

Exemption details for scenes and monologues for competition.

34 Characters

4 Males
5 Females
25 Any Gender
Doubling Possible

Characters in this play are currently identified as male or female. Directors are welcome to assign any gender (binary or non-binary) to any character and modify pronouns accordingly.

The Tell-Tale Heart

The Old Male 24 lines
The Young Male 75 lines
Police One Any gender 9 lines
Police Two Any gender 10 lines
The Shudders Any gender 54 lines

Ensemble

The Bells

Silver One Any gender 6 lines
Silver Two Any gender 5 lines
Silver Three Any gender 2 lines
Gold One Any gender 7 lines
Gold Two Any gender 4 lines
Gold Three Any gender 4 lines
Brass One Any gender 9 lines
Brass Two Any gender 8 lines
Brass Three Any gender 8 lines
Iron One Any gender 16 lines
Iron Two Any gender 14 lines
Icon Three Any gender 11 lines
The Shudders Any gender 22 lines

Ensemble

The Oval Portrait

Painter Male 0 lines

Extensive mime
Picture Lady Female 0 lines

Extensive mime
Young Lady Female 0 lines

Extensive mime
Soul Suckers (x2) Any gender 0 lines

Extensive mime
The Shudders Any gender 0 lines

Ensemble

The Raven

One Any gender 38 lines
Two Any gender 38 lines
Three Any gender 38 lines
Four Any gender 37 lines
Five Any gender 36 lines
The Shudders Any gender 12 lines

Ensemble; You can have many more Individual Speakers for this poem. Feel free to divide the lines among more speakers.

The Masque of the Red Death

Narrator One 17 lines
Narrator Two 17 lines
Narrator Three 16 lines
Guest One 21 lines
Guest Two 21 lines
Guest Three 16 lines
Prince 15 lines
The Spectre

Extensive mime
The Shudders Any gender 25 lines

Ensemble

Lionizing

Robert Jones Male 42 lines
Father Male 15 lines
Mother Female 1 line
The Artist Female 9 lines
The Duchess Female 11 lines
The Countess Female 7 lines
The Marquis Male 4 lines
The Prince Male 15 lines
The Elector Female 4 lines
The Shudders Any gender

Ensemble

Praise for Shuddersome: Tales of Poe

Cathlin Gemmell

Gemco Players Community Theatre Inc.

This is a terrific but challenging play to perform. Audiences were impressed by the level of difficulty required to make it work - particularly in The Raven. It is a great opportunity to bring old language to life.

Bing Cox

Panther Creek High School

Great experience for my Theatre 2 students! And the audiences really liked it. A great ensemble piece.

Sarah Kohn

Kingsland

This was a great One Act Competition piece. The actors really enjoyed the ominous feel we were able to create. I used 7-12th graders. It was a great learning experience for the underclassmen. It was a great way to share some of Poe's works with the students as well. I appreciated the options of limiting the show time to using the 3 pieces.

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