On October 5th, 2001, I attended a play at Ferris State University’s Williams Auditorium. It was a stage production called  Edgar Allan Poe - Once Upon A Midnight written by Paul Day Clemens with Ron Magid and directed by Alan Bergmann. Actor John Astin was the solo performer. Beloved as "Gomez Addams" in the original Addams Family television series from  the 1960s, and Harry Anderson’s father, “Uncle Buddy”, in the television series Night Court, Astin has had a long career on  stage and screen as well. Many of his roles have been fun, offbeat and zany.

However, this play took on some very serious subject matter. What I thought I knew about Edgar Allan Poe was turned  entirely upside down. John Astin’s heart-felt portrayal of Poe was stunning. It turns out Poe’s literary executor and biographer,  Rufus Wilmot Griswold, was responsible for the bad image we have of Poe today. I sat in awe of Astin’s performance as a  new Edgar Allan Poe was revealed. Like alot of people, I was led to believe that Poe was a genius but also a pathetic alcoholic  who sometimes indulged in laudanum (an opium and alcohol mixture) and wrote morose stories while in a deranged,  drug-induced fog. How very wrong I was!

Through Astin’s performance, it became clear that the many famous stories written by Poe were wrought from immense grief   while  the  women  in  his  life  succumbed  slowly  to consumption, or tuberculosis as it is known today. All the while Poe was trying to earn love and respect from a very stern and emotionally distant stepfather, John Allan.  Torment and anguish were enormous factors in shaping Poe’s life. His writing now seemed more autobiographical than fiction  to me. True horror!

If the adage is correct that "you can only learn through pain", then Edgar Allan Poe had many opportunities for learning.
Like so  many of us who have lost loved ones, Poe sought a greater understanding of death to find solace and comfort in his life. This  inner quest led him to many profound revelations and discoveries. Ultimately, Poe presented these findings in verse in a book called EUREKA. A Sanskrit saying adopted by Blavatsky in her SECRET DOCTRINE says "There is no religion higher than  truth". Poe seemed to embrace that concept as he put his findings onto those pages. This was his last poetic effort…his "lifework". His masterpiece!

Published in 1848, EUREKA is a poetic expression of theories about the origin of life on this planet, the formation of other  planets and our solar system. In an online interview (www.dagonbytes.com/film/fame/astin/astinart.htm), Astin says "…Poe’s  view of the cosmos was not so far removed from current cosmology. In fact there's a book called DARKNESS AT NIGHT  (an astronomy book by Edward Harrison - Harvard University Press 1987),…which discusses the riddle of darkness. Why is  the sky dark at night? Given an infinite number of stars, why isn’t the whole sky lit up? Why are there great spaces and voids?  Poe’s answer to this is still valid according to the scientists of today. This book has a whole chapter devoted to Poe.  In EUREKA,  Poe proposed a time and space continuum, fully a half a century before Einstein." The publishers and critics of his  day considered Poe blasphemous, and EUREKA drew heavy criticism for being pagan and pantheistic. Only 500 copies were  printed.

So there I was, watching John Astin on a dark and eerily lit stage in Big Rapids, Michigan. He was conveying a heart-wrenching message while simultaneously raising Poe to an echelon deserved of such a great man. I realized I had  partaken in a time-honored tradition. As with ancient Greek theater bringing stories of great import to the masses, here was  another story brought to us by a brilliant actor who recognized its true importance. It is obvious that John Astin has invested  much of his energy and life in resurrecting the good name of Edgar Allan Poe, and in calling attention to the profound concepts  contained in EUREKA.

After the play, I had a chance to meet John Astin. That twinkle in his eye accompanied by a wry smile reminded me of "Gomez  Addams", but I saw something much deeper in him after seeing his performance as Poe. Here he was, thousands of miles from  home and his loving wife, working hard to perfect his craft in this eye-opening production. I soon learned that Astin has been  honing this play for the last five years! Much of this play is Poe’s work quoted verbatim. That’s an awesome feat considering  the volumes of material Astin memorized. Thank you, John Astin, for your hard work and for sharing this very welcome story!

I am still reading EUREKA. It is truly ponderous! I find that I’m absorbing it slowly as I mull over each verse, and  yes, EUREKA is certainly proving to be pantheistic and  pagan….excellent reading indeed!  I recommend  EUREKA to all  seekers of truth. And if the play, Edgar Allan Poe - Once Upon A Midnight comes to your area, don’t miss it!
 

http://www.astin-poe.com/tour.html has the latest tour schedule for Edgar Allan Poe - Once Upon A Midnight.
 

EUREKA: A  PROSE POEM
is available new through Prometheus Books, 59 John Glenn Drive, Amherst, New York 14228-2197