A Misspent ‘Evening With Edgar Poe’

Any play that unearths the body of Edgar Allan Poe should make Steven King look tame.

But during “An Evening With Edgar Poe” we feel buried alive for all the wrong reasons. Sanity rules Steven Ritz’s solo show at 6470 Theatre about America’s 19th-Century poet of madness and horror. Of course, a case can always be made that incoherence and lack of focus constitute lunacy instead of chaos.

Onstage, a life-size mannequin leans precariously next to a steamer trunk. A tape-recorded litany of anti-Poeisms imply that the dummy is Poe’s literary executor Rufus Griswold, who posthumously savaged Poe’s reputation.

Disguised as Poe, Ritz emerges from the trunk to seek poetic justice. Their debate includes moments when Ritz crouches behind the dummy and, unsuccessfully concealed, fails to imitate Griswold’s voice. Evidently, we’re supposed to pay no attention to that man behind the dummy.

The evening’s low point occurs during Ritz’s condensed enactment of the tale, “A Descent Into the Maelstrom,” which descends into the realm of the ridiculous. The closest Ritz comes to Poe’s Gothic genius occurs during a low-lit, simply told version of “The Cask of Amontillado,” accompanied by a haunting jingle of bells.

Instead of praying to Poe’s “Angel of the Odd,” Ritz should remember his raven’s advice: “Nevermore.” Or at least Poe’s middle name.

* “An Evening With Edgar Poe,” 6470 Theatre, 6470 Santa Monica Boulevard, Hollywood . Thursdays, 8 p.m. ; Fridays-Saturdays 10 p.m. Ends June 12. $10. (310) 455-7150. Running time: 1 hour.