The Fall of the House of Usher
Edgar Allen Poe, adapted by Jack Neary

This adaptation of the classic Poe short story takes the challenging, haunting, somewhat oblique tale and casts it in the guise of a fast-moving 1930’s detective thriller. The play opens with a young man being interrogated by a tough Boston police detective. The young man has been discovered cowering at the scene of a horrible fire which has destroyed the Usher mansion, leaving two unidentifiably charred bodies in its wake. As the plot unravels, we discover how this young man was involved in the collapse of the Usher estate, and we learn the family’s horrible secret. The scene shifts back and forth from the police interrogation room to the Usher mansion as the young man recalls and relives the chilling events of the past two weeks. (Photo from the 2015 Pavilion Theatre production, Sydney, Australia, directed and designed by Paul Sztelma.)

"This adaptation by Jack Neary of the classic Edgar Allen Poe short story takes the challenging, haunting tale and re-invents it as a fast-moving 1930’s detective thriller, while still maintaining Poe’s basic story of family treachery and madness." Sydney (Australia) Arts Guide, 2015.

"Edgar Allen Poe’s grisly story of a family steeped in intrigue and depravity – a tale one would not consider easily transferred to the stage. But Jack Neary has cleverly transposed it into a macabre thriller that works disturbingly well." Carol Wimmer, online review of the Australian production, 2015

This adaptation of "The Fall of the House of Usher is a clever and stunningly performed adaptation of the Poe classic that will have you slightly terrified from start to finish..." Arts on the Au.com, 2015

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