Boilerplate
Short — 40 words
Dark Lantern Theatre Company adapts gothic horror for the stage. Founded in Denver in 2026 by writer and director James Deverell, the company builds small-cast productions designed to work three ways: live, filmed as classical television drama, and as audio drama.
Long — 100 words
Dark Lantern Theatre Company adapts gothic horror for the stage. A dark lantern is a shuttered lamp that throws a single narrow beam and leaves the rest of the room black; the company takes both its name and its method from the object. Productions are built for small rooms and small casts, drawn from source material old enough to be out of copyright, and staged close enough that the audience can hear the actors breathe. Each production is made three times over — live, filmed in the manner of a classical television play, and adapted again as audio drama. Founded in Denver in 2026 by writer and director James Deverell.
Fact sheet
The Tell-Tale Heart
- Title
- The Tell-Tale Heart
- Adapted by
- James Deverell
- Source
- “The Tell-Tale Heart” by Edgar Allan Poe, first published 1843. Public domain.
- Form
- One act, single continuous scene, played in real time without an interval
- Running time
- Approximately 55 minutes
- Cast
- Three adult male actors
- Setting
- A house, the 1840s, the night of the murder
- Status
- In development. Casting. Targeting a Denver production in 2027 — dates and venue not yet confirmed.
- Company
- Dark Lantern Theatre Company, Denver, Colorado
Synopsis
For listings
An old man is dead, and his caretaker is sitting in the parlour with two policemen, being very calm about it. Poe's narrator confesses from a cell, after the fact. This adaptation puts him in a chair instead — across a table from two officers, in real time, on the night itself. He talks for the better part of an hour, and he very nearly gets away with it.
Images
Not yet
There are no production images, because there has not yet been a production. Once the play is staged, photographs and a filmed excerpt will be posted here at print resolution and cleared for press use. If you are writing before then and need something visual, get in touch and we will sort something out.
Contact
Press enquiries
James Deverell, Dark Lantern Theatre Company
hello@darklanterntheatre.com
Denver, Colorado