Darryl Maximilian Robinson Provides Notes On His 1990s Stage Adaptation of The Raven And Six Other Points of Interest by Edgar Allan Poe

SHARING NOTES ON AN ADAPTATION OF "THE RAVEN AND SIX OTHER POINTS OF INTEREST" BY EDGAR ALLAN POE!:

With the first series of performances in 1990, previewed at the famed Rudyard Kipling Pub in Louisville, Kentucky and a formal run at The Midtown Arts Center of St. Louis, Missouri, Darryl Maximilian Robinson, a veteran and award-winning stage actor and play director, became known for his theatrical adaptation of Edgar Allan Poe's works, including The Raven and Six Other Points of Interest.

This production was first staged in 1990 by Excaliber Productions, Ltd. in Louisville and St. Louis and later multiple times by The Excaliber Shakespeare Company of Chicago, both of which Robinson founded.

The adaptation combines Poe's poetic and narrative works, showcasing his mastery of gothic literature.

Darryl Maximilian Robinson's dedication to bringing classic literature to life on stage has earned him critical acclaim.

"It's wonderful that people like actor-adapter-director Darryl Maximilian Robinson recognize Edgar Allan Poe's dramatic potential -- his mastery of dark, suspenseful narrative -- and bring his chilling poetry and prose to the stage. " -- Kim Wilson, The Chicago Reader, Nov. 4, 1999.

"If the Ripley's Believe It or Not museum in Old Town were still open, Excaliber director and actor Darryl Maximilian Robinson would probably get his own wing. He's the kind of deliciously melodramatic elocutionist who disappeared about a century ago, after doing declamatory readings of "the classics" on every vaudeville stage and in every state fair tent in the northern hemisphere. Performing selected works of Edgar Allan Poe in The Raven and Six Other Points of Interest, Robinson has got it all down pat: the clipped diction, the grand gestures ( he doesn't sit down, he swoops down ), the quivering, orotund voice drenched in a Barrymore-esque accent, even the full-length purple smoking jacket. Yet his chocolate-brown skin, bald head, and dancerly grace add an unexpected sensuality to his persona. If Alistair Cooke had given birth to Isaac Hayes' son, he would have turned out an awful lot like Robinson." -- Justin Hayford, The Chicago Reader, Nov. 9, 1995.