NEVERMORE REVIEW
The Calgary Sun

It is audacious, outlandish and mesmerizing.

The brilliance starts with Jonathan Christenson's script which is an epic, gothic poem, long sections of which he has set to original music.

The rhymes are such that you can finish lines before the actors do.

Christenson's verse is part Poe and part Dr. Seuss and his music has hints of everyone from Danny Elfman to Andrew Lloyd Webber which means it's so catchy you'll be humming bars as you leave the theatre.

Brett Gerecke's fantastic and fantastical costumes, sets and props pay tribute to Tim Burton and his designer Henry Selick.

Then there are the performances by Scott Shpeley who plays Poe and Shannon Blanchet, Sheldon Elter, Beth Graham, Ryan Parker, Garett Ross and Vanessa Sabourin who play everyone and everything else.

It is pitch-perfect, finely-tuned ensemble work from seven multi-talented artists whose voices soar even as their bodies contort in the manner of animated characters.

They hold you in their spell for two glorious hours.

Nevermore shows how Poe's tortured life was the impetus and inspiration for his tales of mystery, suspense and horror.

How much of it is factual doesn't really matter because Nevermore exist solely to take its audiences on an unforgettable theatrical journey.

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