Stories from the Fringe: 'A Touch of the Poe'
By Chad Fasca
History has a way of turning extraordinary human characters into mythic figures. The human aspects tend to get stripped from their stories, leaving the stark white bones of their genius standing on a pedestal draped in our awe. In general, we skip the ordinary details of their lives, saving these indigestibles for rabid historians to discuss in books and on panels. Abraham Lincoln made a couple of good speeches, freed the slaves, won the Civil War, and was killed because of it. End of story.
Yet there is a rich depth to the ordinary details in extraordinary human lives. These details are a window through which we can view their achievements and take stock in how we can better our own lives.
In American literature, few literary figures are as misunderstood by the general public as Edgar Allan Poe. Nearly all Americans are exposed to Poe’s work at some point in their lives, but few discover how universal his struggles as a man and as a writer were.
Kevin Mitchell Martin hopes to change all of that with his one-man show titled, "A Touch of the Poe" (directed by playwright/actress Bina Sharif).
Based on the writer’s life (with a lowercase l), "A Touch of the Poe" attempts to put Poe’s extraordinary achievements into the context of his daily life. According to Martin, Poe had problems that most people can relate to. He was always worrying about where his next meal would come from. He worried about his wife’s poor health. He chased down people who owed him money for his stories.
"He only got $15 for ‘The Raven,’" Martin says.
The figure includes all rights to his work; he would receive no royalties.
"There was no copyright (law) in those days," Martin says.
"I try to tell the story of a real person who walked the sidewalks and streets of New York, Philadelphia and Baltimore," Martin says. "Not a famous figure and uncontrollable romantic that was found dying on a street corner."
Of course, some circumstances were unique to Poe’s time, though not to Poe himself. For one thing, adoption was not as widely accepted as it is today. Southern society considered adopted children to be guests in the house of their adoptive parents. Consequently, Poe, the adopted son of John Allan, was not attractive to Southern belles.
"They would not give him the time of day," Martin says.
That emotional distance would be reinforced in his life. Both his mother and father died before Poe was four years old. As an orphan, he lost his connection to his birth family. By marrying his cousin, years later, he retrieved that connection, according to Martin. Of course, he lost his wife too. She died of TB at pretty much the exact same age as his mother (24 or 25).
Poe also distanced himself from many of his colleagues. He had many literary adversaries carried over from his days as a literary critic. Poe had no tolerance for other writers, like Longfellow, who he believed got ahead based on privileged connections and not quality of work, and was not afraid to challenge them.
"He was a classic outsider and I think that comes through in the play," Martin says.
Looking the Part
Martin’s interest in Poe came quite by accident. The blond-haired Martin had little interest in the literary figure until several of his friends, unbeknownst to each other, began teasing him about his resemblance to the famous author.
Martin recalls them saying, "If you darkened your hair, you’d look like Edgar Allen Poe."
He did and became interested in the character.
"My fascination is real,"Martin says, qualifying his affection for the subject.
Shortly after hearing from these friends, he began reading up on Poe.
"I read Hopson’s biography and Kenneth Sillman’s biography, I read his letters and his works," Martin says.
He also read about the people in Poe’s life.
The fruit of this labor is a 75-minute play that deals with Poe’s life from childhood to early life to adulthood and his final days. He plays Poe, characterizations of the people in Poe's short stories, the physician who took care of Poe at his deathbed and Charles Baudelaire, the French poet who was an early fan of Poe and translated some of his work.
As it turns out, Abraham Lincoln was also a great admirer of Poe, though he is not represented in the play. Martin recalls this interesting anecdote about Lincoln’s admiration for Poe.
"A journalist asked Lincoln how he managed to get through all the crises, ‘how do you face a decision and make a decisions?’ He said, ‘I’ve read all of Edgar Allan Poe’s works.’ I think what he meant by that is if something is going to haunt you, it is going to haunt you, you have to live with it."
Martin has presented "A Touch of the Poe" at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival (1996), Prague’s International Poe Festival (1999), as well as a few other venues.
While he thoroughly enjoys performing "A Touch of the Poe," it is not the only work he loves.
"I like other acting roles, of course," Martin says.
