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Campbell Harmon becomes Edgar Allan Poe on stage.

On Wednesday, Sept. 14 at 7 p.m. Campbell Harmon will take the stage as Edgar Allan Poe in the Gallery at the Warehouse Theatre at 3 Central Avenue in Wellsboro. Following Harmon’s performance will be a question and answer session with the audience.

This is the first of seven History Comes Alive performances presented by the Deane Center for the Performing Arts during the 2022-2023 series. Each one is entertaining, educational and exciting.

Born on Jan. 19, 1809, Poe died on Oct. 7, 1849 at the age of 40. The cause of his death remains a mystery.

An American writer, poet, editor, and literary critic, Poe is best known for his poetry and short stories, particularly his tales of mystery and the macabre. He was one of the country’s earliest practitioners of the short story, and considered to be the inventor of the detective fiction genre and a significant contributor to the emerging genre of science fiction.

Harmon’s stage show includes dramatic interpretations of some of Poe’s best-known stories and poems like “The Tell-Tale Heart” and “Annabel Lee.”

He brings the world-renowned poet back from the grave, speaking in-character as Poe looking back on his life while wrestling with a troubled legacy infamously marred by a close friend.

Harmon began performing as Edgar Allan Poe, the Master of the Macabre, in 2009 with the Bushnell Theater for the Performing Arts in Hartford, Connecticut. The theater obtained a grant from the National Endowment for the Arts “Big Read” program to promote literacy in the state. That first program sent Harmon as Poe to 13 libraries around the region, culminating in a stage performance for a convention of horror authors and fans. Since then, Harmon has worked with the NEA program three more times as Poe across America from New Hampshire to New Mexico.

He continues to perform as Poe for libraries, schools, museums, historical societies, and theaters.

Harmon is a graduate of Yale Divinity School with a Masters in Art and Religion. He is a displaced Kentuckian living in Connecticut in a 120-year-old house with a 102-pound dog.

The other History Comes Alive performances are in the Deane Center’s Coolidge Theatre at 7 p.m. on Wednesdays on the following dates: Oct. 12, Kevin Titus as Doc Holliday; Nov. 9, Steven Edenbo as Thomas Jefferson; Dec. 14, Robert Gleason as Thomas Paine; Feb. 8, 2003, Bill Robling as Benjamin Franklin; March 15, 2003, Kim Hanley as Betsy Ross; and April 12, 2003, Robert Gleason as William Penn.

Tickets for each show are $15. Children 12 and under accompanied by a paying adult are admitted free.

Those who want to see all 7 shows can purchase a series ticket for $75 and save $30.

For information, call (570) 724-6220 or visit www.deanecenter.com

Diane Eaton
dianetn@ptd.net
(570) 724-3800