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Always expect the unexpected with Meat & Potato Theatre. After a two-year hiatus, the company returns with a Poe-pourri of poems and stories by…Edgar Allan Poe, of course. But as you might suspect, Poe's work is not simply reproduced dramatically. Instead company co-founder Tobin Atkinson has updated and reinvented the material and embellished it with Meat & Potato's usual eclectic arsenal of masks and puppets. The show, aptly titled "con-tem-POE-rar-y," is making its debut in the Rose Wagner's Studio Theatre in Salt Lake City.

Each poem and story gets a unique treatment. Some — like "The Raven" and "The Pit and the Pendulum" — remain largely the way Poe wrote them, and it's the way they are staged that adds a special stamp. Others — like "The Cask of Amontillado" and "The Purloined Letter" — receive distinctive contemporary settings ("Cask" at the Cannes Film Festival and "Letter" in Russia) that invite Atkinson to alter their dialogue and situation. And he uses others — "How to Write a Blackwood Article," "MS in a Bottle" and "The Tell-Tale Heart" — as jumping-off places to send the story in a new and different direction.

In "Heart," for instance, the murderer is a wife whose husband is alternately ignoring and annoying her. There is no dialogue; the entire story unfolds in pantomime, but the details are always completely clear due to the expressive performances of Rebecca Marcotte, Jeffrey Howard Ingman and Josh Thoemke.

Two poems are set to original music by Rob Hartmann. Raina Larkin Thorne sings "Annabel Lee" as a concert ballad in an elegant black dress. In "The Bells," a different actor sings each verse. Each set of bells features a separate style of music and lighting, and choreographer William Richardson has designed different dance steps for them.

The performance approach is varied and versatile. Storytelling ranges from voiceover narration to regular dialogue to pantomime. Megan Crivello's multi-colored lighting gives a unique look to each piece and spans from realistic to surreal, even incorporating flashlights. Ruth Weisman's set pieces are simple and easy to move around, and the props are pantomimed, keeping the focus firmly fixed on Poe's ageless storytelling. And Meat & Potato productions always feature a richly detailed and eclectic sound design that places what you're watching a wider world.

The four cast members act like a mini repertory company, attacking each piece with enthusiasm and wry humor. Atkinson directs with his customary panache.

"If you can't dazzle them with brilliance, baffle them with bullshit," Blackwood advises the eager young journalist in "How to Write a Blackwood Article." This production manages to do a pleasing combination of both. —

A 'con-tem-POE-rar-y' take on classic Poe

Tobin Atkinson's clever adaptation of Poe proves that the master poet and storyteller never gets ho-hum or out-of-date.

When • Reviewed on May 28; Thursdays, Fridays and Saturdays, 8 p.m., and Sundays, 2 p.m., through June 12.

Where • Studio Theatre at the Rose Wagner Performing Arts Center, 138 W. Broadway, Salt Lake City

Tickets • $20, with discounts available; 355-ARTS or artsaltlake.org; visit http://www.meatandpotato.org for more information. The show contains adult language and situations.

Running time • Two hours (including an intermission)