The ghosts of Edgar Allan Poe and several of his contemporaries come to life this summer in a theatrical production of The Spyglass Seven at The Poe Museum on June 6, 2025.
Michael Seebold’s The Spyglass Seven finds Poe resurrected from the grave for one night, to speak again with the ghosts of the seven women who most shaped his life and work. In a cemetery before dawn, the ghosts reminisce on their loves, rivalries, and literature from the 1830s and 1840s. Under the mysterious presence and vigil of the Spirit of Beauty, Poe is given until sunrise to determine which of the seven women was his soul mate.
The play incorporates writings and poems from Poe and his contemporaries, including the infamous Obituary for Edgar Allan Poe written by Rufus Griswold. Among the historical figures to appear in the play are Jane Stanard, an early mentor figure from Poe’s years in Richmond; Sarah Helen Whitman, the enigmatic spiritualist and one-time fiancée to Poe; and Virginia Clemm, Poe’s first cousin and wife, whose death from tuberculosis inspired some of the poet’s most famous poems.
The Spyglass Seven received the 2012 Arts NC State Creative Artist Award for Playwriting and saw its world premiere at NCSU University Theatre in 2013. The play has run previously in New York and in the International Edgar Allan Poe Festival & Awards in Baltimore.
The cast is led by actors Elias Morris (Poe) and Kylie Logan (Beauty), with hair, makeup, and special effect designs by Sol Henriquez.
Actor Michael Short, who portrays Poe’s literary executor and rival Rufus Griswold in the play, comments: “my most vivid memory of Miss Elias’ 10th grade English Literature class, was the moment we turned the page to Poe’s lyric poem Annabel Lee, and we began to read.”
“Returning to an old script is rewarding but uncanny,” adds Seebold, who will also direct the June production, “familiarity and novelty reside in the same lines. The world of the play begins to evade time.”
Check back soon to reserve your tickets!
