POE!
POE! POE!
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(POE
chews pen and thinks, begins to write again, speaks as he writes
each word. ACTOR 1 will begin to talk with POE saying the same words
together. Then POE will stop speaking and ACTOR 1 will continue. POE
will join other actors to emphasize parts of the story through vocal
sounds and physical movement)
POE:
True! — nervous — very, very dreadfully nervous I had been
and am ...
POE
& ACTOR 1: But why will you say that I am mad?
ACTOR
1: The disease had sharpened my senses — not destroyed
— not dulled them. Above all was the sense of hearing acute. I
heard all things in heaven and in the earth. I heard many things in
hell. How then, am I mad? Hearken! and observe how healthily —
how calmly I can tell you the whole story.
(Pause)
ACTOR
1: It is impossible to say how first the idea entered my brain.
But once conceived, it haunted me day and night. Object there was
none. Passion there was none. I loved the old man. He had never
wronged me. He had never given me insult. For his gold I had no desire.
ACTOR
2: 1 think it was his eye!
ACTOR
1: Yes, it was this!
ACTOR
3: One of his eyes resembled that of a vulture — a pale
blue eye, with a film over it.
ACTOR
1: Whenever it fell upon me, my blood ran cold; so by
degrees-very gradually — I made up my mind...
ACTOR
3: I made up my mind...
ACTOR
2: 1 made up my mind...
ACTOR
1: ... to take the life of the old man, and thus rid myself of
the eye forever.
(Pause)
ACTOR
1: Now this is the point. You fancy me mad. Madmen know nothing.
But you should have seen me. You should have seen how wisely I proceeded...
ACTOR
2: With what caution...
ACTOR
3: With what foresight...
ACTOR
1: With what dissimulation I went to work! I was never kinder to
the old man than during the whole week before I killed him. And every
night, about midnight, I turned the latch of his door and opened it...
ACTOR
2: Oh, so gently!
ACTOR
1: Oh, you would have laughed to see how cunningly I thrust my
head in! I moved it slowly...
ACTOR
3: Very, very slowly...
ACTOR
1: It took me an hour to place my whole head within the opening
so far that I could see him as he lay upon his bed. Ha! Would a
madman be so wise? I did this for seven long nights. Upon the eighth
night I was more than usually cautious in opening the door. Perhaps
he heard me though, for he moved on the bed...
ACTOR
3: Suddenly!
ACTOR
1: As if startled. Now you may think that I drew back...
ACTOR
2: But no!
ACTOR
1: I had my head in and was about to open the lantern, when
presently I heard a slight groan...
ACTORS
1 & 3: OOOHHHH, ooohhhh.
ACTOR
1: And I knew it was the groan of mortal terror. I say I knew it
well. I knew what the old man felt, and pitied him, although I
chuckled at heart. I knew he had been lying awake, his fears had been
growing upon him. He was thinking that he had heard nothing. He was
saying to himself...
ACTOR
3: "It is nothing but the wind in the chimney – it is
only a mouse crossing the floor."
ACTOR
2: "It is merely a cricket which has made a single chirp."
ACTOR
1: Yes, he was trying to comfort himself with these
suppositions; but he had found all in vain. All in vain; because
Death, in approaching him, had stalked his black shadow before him,
and enveloped the victim.
ACTOR
2: So I opened the door...
ACTOR
3: You cannot imagine how stealthily, stealthily...
ACTOR
1: Until, at length, a single dim ray, like a thread of a
spider, shot out from the crevice and full upon the vulture eye! I
could see nothing else of the old man's face, for I had directed the
ray as if by instinct, precisely upon the damned spot.
(Pause)
ACTOR
1: And now have I not told you that what you mistake for madness
is but over-acuteness of the senses? Now, I say, there came to my
ears a low, dull, quick sound, such as a watch makes when enveloped
in cotton. I knew that sound well too. It was the beating...
(POE
may beat drum quietly at this point and build to end)
ACTOR
2: Beating!
ACTOR
1: It was the beating of the old man's heart. It increased my
fury, as the beating of a drum stimulates the soldier into courage.
(Pause)
ACTOR
1: But even yet I refrained and kept still. I scarcely breathed.
I held the lantern motionless. I tried how steadily I could maintain
the ray upon the eye. Meantime the hellish tattoo of the heart
increased. It grew...
ACTOR
2: Quicker! Quicker!
ACTOR
3: Louder! Louder!
ACTOR
1: The old man's terror must have been extreme! It grew louder
and louder every minute! Do you mark me well? I have told you I am
nervous; so I am. And now at the dead hour of the night, amid the
dreadful silence of that old house, so strange a noise as this
excited me to uncontrollable terror. Yet for some minutes longer I
refrained and stood still.
ACTOR
3: But the beating grew louder and louder!
ACTOR
1: I thought the heart might burst. And now a new anxiety seized
me — the sound would be heard by a neighbor! The old man's hour
had come! With a loud yell, I threw open the lantern and leaped into
the room. He shrieked once — once only. In an instant I dragged
him to the floor and pulled the heavy bed covers over him. I then
smiled gaily, to find the deed so far done.
ACTOR
2: But, for many minutes the heart beat on with a muffled sound.
ACTOR
1: This, however, did not vex me; it would not be heard through
the wall.
ACTOR
3: At length, it ceased.
ACTOR
1: The old man was dead. I removed the bed covers and examined
the corpse. Yes, he was stone, stone dead. I placed my hand upon the
heart and held it there many minutes. There was no pulsation. He was
stone dead. His eye would trouble me no more.
(Pause)
ACTOR
1: If still you think me mad, you will think so no longer when I
describe the wise precautions I took for the concealment of the body.
The night waned, and I worked hastily, but in silence. First of all I
dismembered the corpse. I cut off the head and the arms and the legs.
I then took up three planks from the flooring of the chamber,
deposited all between the scantlings. I then replaced the boards so
cleverly, so cunningly, that no human eye...
ACTOR
2: Not even his?
ACTOR
1: Could have detected anything wrong. There was nothing to wash
out — no stain of any kind — no blood spot whatever. I had
been too wary for that. A tub had caught all — ha! ha! When I
had made an end of these labors, it was four o'clock. As the bell
sounded the hour, there came a knocking at the street door. I opened
it — for what had I to fear? There entered three men, who
introduced themselves as...
ACTOR
2: Officers of the police.
ACTOR
3: A shriek has been heard in the night.
ACTOR
2: There is suspicion of foul play.
ACTOR
3: We have been deputed to search the premises.
ACTOR
1: I smiled, for what had I to fear? I bade the gentlemen welcome.
The
Tell Tale Heart continues...
Note:
This is a sample from the actual script. To review the entire
play, order the PERUSAL SCRIPT (online instant download).
