Edinburgh International Festival 8th-31st August 2008

‘A carefully contoured musical and theatrical jewel... Martin Niedermair is unforgettable.'

- The Sydney Morning Herald

‘This is Poe rendered naked, stripped of the rags of gothic melodrama, and it is a terrifying vision.'

- The Australian

‘Niedermair gives a stunning tour-de-force performance... The whole emotively pitched voyage is conceived and staged with beautyand sensitivity.'

- Variety

To hear what the audiences had to say about the opening night of The Tell-Tale Heart at EIF, click here

- Audience Reviews

 'Never less than riveting'

 EIF Critic Alexander Gandar on The Tell-tale Heart

 Barrie Kosky's The Tell-Tale Heart (adapted from an Edgar Allan Poe poem) begins, suitably, with a full minute of complete darkness before a single spot slowly rises on Martin Niedermair's terrified and terrifying face. From there we dive dreamily into familiar Poe territory, an unrelenting place, coiled in horror and triumph.

Niedermair's performance as the conflicted murderer is nearly faultless, his every tic and squeal visibly haunting. If there are occasional hints at over-performance it comes off deliberately so - the melodramatic content and heinousness of the crime justify his histrionics.

Paul Jackson's chiaroscuro lighting truly exacts Poe's sense of terror, his design perfectly reflecting the thematic schizophrenia, morphing Neidermair's face into unrecognisable shapes with chasms of shadow.

There is nothing simple about Kosky's theatre, it is musical, physical, and never less than a riveting piece that manages to fulfil the gothic intention of every grimy word.

- EIF Critic Alexander Gandar

IN HIS classic suspense story, Edgar Allan Poe terrified millions of readers - and this stage adaptation of The Tell-Tale Heart is no less thrilling. In complete darkness, and unbearable silence, slowly the face of the deranged murderer appears, twisted by the memories of the awful tale he is about to relate. Does this murderer, driven mad with guilt, really hear his dead victim's heartbeat? Martin Niedermair's performance is one of incredible emotion and energy. He rants, drools and screams, and yet can suddenly switch to singing beautiful hymns.

The audience hangs on his every word, filled with rasping breath and twitches.

Though sometimes drawn out, so loaded is every word that it leaves us terrified that he may snap and scream at any moment. At one point, so evil is his expression, that, combined with underlighting, he looks almost inhuman, and more like the devil himself.

The atmosphere is created using a beautifully haunting mixture of piano music (performed exquisitely by director Barrie Kosky) and shafts of bright light. Designed by Paul Jackson, the lighting creates the impression that we are inside the murderer's mind.

It's a haunted, lonely place.

Anna Tregloan's set design is simple yet very effective.

A single staircase, stretching upwards into gloom, and the only lit area, seems to emphasise the vast darkness surrounding our madman. It also gives him space to scuttle around, spider like, as he switches between panicked and utterly deranged.

This is a performance that doesn't allow attention to falter for a second, leaving the audience in constant fascination and fear.

 Eleanor Morton is a pupil at Royal High School.

- Herald Young Critic Eleanor Morton