CORE Theatre Ensemble is an independent theatre company based out of Hampton Roads. They’re hosting an Edgar Allan Poe Masquerade on Monday, January 27 at the Wells Theatre in Norfolk. Rebecca Evans interviews CORE about their event, which includes an abridged performance of their piece, “The Poe Project.”

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Interview Transcript:

Emel: As people arrive, it'll be a bong noise of some sort: ”Presenting...to the court…”

Edwin: “Lord and Lady Bracknell” or something very formal. (laughs)

Emel: Anything you would like to be called.

Rebecca: That was Emel Ertugrul and Edwin Castillo from CORE Theatre Ensemble, an independent theatre company based out of Hampton Roads. They're hosting an Edgar Allan Poe Masquerade on Monday, January 27. I talked to them about the event, which includes an abridged performance of their piece, “The Poe Project.”

Emel: One of the first things we did as a group was start adapting Poe. Since then, we've developed a show called “The Poe Project,” a series of macabre, everything from Tell Tale Heart, Cask of Amontillado, and some that people think they know and we present them in a very different light.

Rebecca: CORE presented a Poe Masquerade about 10 years ago in a theater at ODU. This time they're having their masquerade on the stage and in the lobbies of the historic Wells Theatre in Norfolk where Virginia Stage Company is based.

Emel: They are opening “Sense and Sensibility” and the set for the “Sense and Sensibility” is absolutely stunning and I cannot wait for people to see this. It lends itself pretty well to having a masquerade on it. At a certain point, there is a dance that then takes a really odd twist.

Rebecca: The performance will emerge out of the party with the audience standing in observation for about 20 minutes. CORE will act out the poems, “The Raven” and “The Bells,” plus the short story, “The Tell-Tale Heart.”

Emel: 4 people do “The Tell-Tale Heart” and they’re stations that make different sounds, and it's presented as if someone really was as insane as this gentleman is, he probably would have 4 voices in his head competing.

Rebecca: What's the rehearsal process like this time around for this show?

Emel: Well, I think with Poe, we've done it so many times that, for instance, our cohorts, our best friends in this business, Laura Agudelo and Nancy Dickerson, we have done this piece where I can walk down the street and just say it and do them because it's sort of like in our blood now. I think it's part of our DNA. In this particular piece, we work as an ensemble where we're all the directors. It's not one person's vision. It's why the 4 of us chime so well together.

Edwin: It's that idea of ensemble. I mean, that's what we've called ourselves. That’s what we know ourselves as. It's trust. We trust each other's work as artists and we also trust each other's voice. And if they see something, they said it. We, each one of us goes, “They're probably right, so.”

Emel: Or at least go, “Let's try it.”

Rebecca: CORE’s taken “The Poe Project” in various versions to theatre festivals around the world. This iteration will end with a party.

Edwin: And it is a masquerade ball. Not a lot of people get to go to a masquerade ball, so we are encouraging people to, you know, dress to impress and also have the most beautiful masks that you can find. I mean, when we did it last time over at ODU we had some amazing costumes.

Emel: Some people were inspired, just, so one gentleman came as the actual raven, which was very interesting

Eddie: I don’t know how he created that. (laughs)

Emel: It’s a very rare situation that you'd be able to do this in this capacity and in that space, and appreciating 210 years of this gentleman who, while he had a very troubled life, wrote some really beautiful pieces, and we've always been fascinated with his literature and been inspired by it as a group.

Rebecca: That was Emel Ertugrul and Edwin Castillo from CORE Theater Ensemble. Check out their Poe Masquerade at the Wells Theatre, Monday, January 27 at 7 PM.

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