The Audio File: Poe Theatre on the Air: Season 2

A new year means discovering new show, but that doesn’t mean we can’t revisit old friends. In fact, today we’re going to visit a friend from when I first started taking requests for audio drama reviews. So, without further ado, let’s get into it. We’re taking a look at season two of Poe Theatre on the Air.

We’ve had our fun at the asylum of Dr. Maillard, but it is time to move on. Specifically, we’re going to a delightful Parisian café. Our host is an American expat named Zach Yeager. He used to work the crime beat for a Parisian newspaper. Zach found himself in need of lodgings. As it so happened, C. Auguste Dupin was in need of a roommate. Dupin has an incredibly brilliant mind, and a true knack for solving mysteries. However, he has about as much common sense as a lemon. Thus, Zach found himself having to be Dupin’s babysitter. Still, Zach made the best of things, and even got to help Dupin solve some mysteries. Zach will regale us with three tales of mysteries he and Dupin investigated.

I had known that this is the direction Poe Theatre on the Air would be heading for a while. Alex Zavistovich allowed me to see the scripts before this season was recorded. I flipped through them, but I’m of the opinion that audio dramas are meant to be listened to, not read. So, I eagerly awaited the finished product.

Alex pitched this season to me by comparing it to the television shows Monk and Psyche. This got my attention immediately. Monk was one of my absolute favorite shows when I was growing up. I always found Mr. Monk’s struggles to be incredibly relatable. I also quite enjoyed Psyche. It helped that Monk and Psyche always played back-to-back every Friday.

I can certainly see the influence. This season had a humorous bent to it, but also knew when to take itself seriously. Dupin is clearly a brilliant detective, but he struggles with social situations. It’s not that he’s depressed or nervous. He has a surprisingly sunny and cheerful disposition. Rather, he seems to have absolutely no clue how to interact with other people. He frequently overshares information, he follows strict routines, he often misses when he has upset people or hurt their feelings. He also doesn’t understand why silly things like rules or laws should interfere with his investigations.

All of this makes him come across as though he is autistic. Which is interesting, because Adrian Monk also always struck me as autistic. I know he canonically has OCD, but that is often co-morbid with autism. And I don’t know if Alex Zavistovich intended for Dupin to come across was autistic, but it is an interesting parallel.

Complicating things further is the setting. Much like season 1, the exact time period is a bit ambiguous. It seems to be vaguely set in the past, but that’s about it. Interestingly, the original short stories were also vague about when they were set. So, perhaps the audio drama is set before autism was formally recognized. On an unrelated note, though this season is set in Paris, all the actors use their natural accents.

Another influence from Monk and Psyche is the way that Dupin solves the crimes. The original short stories, surprisingly, don’t really have Dupin finding that many clues. In fact, he usually doesn’t even mention clues until the denouement. By contrast, Poe Theatre on the Air makes a point of having Dupin uncover numerous clues. That way, you can follow his train of thought, and it doesn’t feel like he’s pulling things out of his ass.

Although, I do wonder when Dupin and Zach find time to sleep. They stay up till all hours of the night, but we clearly see them working during the day, and they aren’t sleep deprived. Eh, we can write it off as another of Dupin’s many quirks and idiosyncrasies. Dupin is a chevalier, which means knight in French. So, I suppose that makes him Sir Dupin, the eccentric rich detective who likes to slum it in the city.

There are some other slight changes compared to the original shot stories. For example, the narrator didn’t have a name in the short stories. Also, the police department includes far more women than the original stories did. For example, the police chief is named Honoré, and she is Zach’s love interest.

Also, “Murder in the Rue Morgue” features an orangutan. I bring this up because, apparently, the orangutan is a source of much contention among Poe scholars. Specifically, regarding what it is supposed to represent. Arguments have been known to get rather heated at Poe conferences when the orangutan is discussed. I found this amusing.

The Dupin short stories proved quite influential on numerous fictional detectives. Before there was Sherlock Holmes or Hercule Poirot, there was C. Auguste Dupin. However, despite creating the template for the detective story, Poe only ever wrote three short stories starring Dupin.

However, Poe Theatre on the Air has been keeping busy. In fact, they’ve expanded their adaptations beyond just Edgar Allan Poe stories. They adapted the short story “The Eye That Saw Death” as part of a festival dedicated to the works of Tennessee Williams. The story follows a rich person who lost their sight, but received an eye transplant. However, they soon become haunted by specters and visions from the donor’s life.

I can see why Poe Theatre went with this one. The plot won’t be out of place in a Poe short story. For example, invokes optography, which shows up in a couple of Poe’s short stories. Optography was a, since discredited, scientific theory that the last image the eye witness before death becomes recorded onto the retina. The general tone and atmosphere is also reminiscent of one of Poe’s horror stories. Interestingly, “The Eye That Saw Death” was almost lost to history. Tennessee Williams never published the story in his lifetime, but it was rediscovered by chance in 2015. Hopefully, this will help it get known to a wider audience.

But that’s not the only non-Poe story that Poe Theatre has adapted. They’ve also done adaptations of “The Terror of Blue John Gap” by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle. It is titled “The Beast in the Caves.” This one features our good friend Zach Jaeger traveling to Britain to investigate rumors of a fearsome beast inhabiting an abandoned mine. Ah, but all is not necessarily as it seems.

Sir Arthur Conan Doyle wrote more than just Sherlock Holmes. He penned several horror and science fiction stories. Personally, my favorite are his Professor Challenger stories. Poe Theatre put their own flourish on this story. In the original, the monster turns out to be a giant bear that has evolved to live underground. Poe Theatre on the Air goes with a different monster, but I’ll let you discover what the surprise is. Admittedly, I did kind of see the twist coming, but it was very well done. I felt it maintained the feel of growing suspense and dread; just like the original story did. Arthur Conan Doyle stories are very hit or miss for me, but this was a good adaption. It is nice to see Poe Theatre occasionally trying new things, and expanding beyond Edgar Allan Poe. 

Well, there you have it. Season 2 of Poe Theatre on the Air brings some great adaptions of the C. Auguste Dupin short stories. We also get a couple adaptions that expand beyond the works of Poe. I don’t know where this audio drama is going next, but I can’t wait to find out.

I think that should do it from me for now. I will see you guys next time.