Poe, Stein monologues a hit

Edgar Allan Poe and Gertrude Stein may seem an unlikely pair for an evening out on the town, but, as a complement to the full-scale play “Stieglitz Loves O’Keeffe,” the Penobscot Theatre is presenting one-act biographical sketches about two well-known American writers, Poe and Stein. Presented as companion pieces, the hour-long monologues “Poe: A Sitting With Edgar Allan Poe” and “Gertrude Stein: Excerpts from a Play by Marty Martin” offer a humorous, enlightening and thoroughly enjoyable evening of biographies.

In the Poe piece, written and performed by Penobscot company actor Chris Fowler, the master of horror and mystery hosts a typically melodramatic discussion about his life and works. He recounts the death of his mother, and reflects upon growing up in the Richmond home of his foster parents (the Allans), marriage to his cousin Virginia Clemm, friendship with Charles Dickens, time at West Point, periods of sordid poverty and endless difficulties as a result of drug and gambling habits. He speaks of his writing and champions beauty over truth, brevity over quantity as he recites sections of “The Bells,” “Annabel Lee,” and “The Raven.”

Fowler has crafted a lovely script, written in a language and style that pay homage to Poe’s own concern with careful meter and word choice. We feel the depth of Poe’s agitation, laugh at his witty jokes and come to understand the many forces that shaped his life or contributed to his pioneering literary accomplishments. (Poe is, by the way, considered the father of both the short story and detective story.)

Fowler’s persuasive and lively performance keeps the audience interested, even though his voice patterns might be more varied and the poetic recitations more passionate.

Chronicling the life of Gertrude Stein, Tina Young is also quite successful at offering the audience a delightful encounter with an American artist. Stein was a joyfully formidable woman, traipsing around the world following her brother, Leo, and collecting brilliant artworks and friendships with such trailblazing artists as Pablo Picasso, Henri Matisse, Isadora Duncan and Ernest Hemingway.

Stein’s Parisian apartment, 22 rue de Fleuris, which she shared with her lifelong companion Alice B. Toklas, became an international gathering place for French intellectuals and American expatriates. The events that took place there set the stage for Martin’s play. A collection of sometimes poignant, sometimes nonsensical narratives, the play seats Stein in a storytelling chair for a rainy evening of anecdotes about her life and work — both of which pushed a rapidly changing culture to its limits.

Young, who plays Stein, is confident, wry and amusing as she recounts the memories of a life filled with incredible vivacity and genius. As with the Poe presentation, viewers may miss some of the dense literary allusions, but both of these theatrical biographies are clever, informative and fun.

The Poe/Stein biographies will be presented at 8 p.m. Feb. 26 and 27, and March 5 and 6 at the Penobscot Theatre. For more information, call 942-3333.