“All that we see or seem is but a dream within a dream.”
(Edgar Allan Poe)

In the first bimester we read a simplified text: “The Black Cat and Other Stories” by Edgar Allan Poe. In the second bimester, the students had to adapt one of Poe’s short stories for the stage and then perform it to the class. Here is their adaptation of Poe’s short story “The Oval Portrait”.

The Oval Portrait

Characters:
Woman/Narrator 2 – Mariana Gouvêa
Painter/Traveller – Rodrigo Costa
Pedro – Gabriela Toledo
Narrator 1 – Daniela Longato

We are going to perform our adaptation of Edgar Allan Poe’s “The Oval Portrait” for the stage.

Play:

Traveller – It’s too dark in that forest. LOOK, A HOUSE!

Narrator 1 – It was a sad and strangely beautiful house, many hundreds of years old.

Traveller – Cof cof. I’m very sick, I think I have a high temperature!

Pedro – Want some medicine?

Traveller – No, thanks, Pedro.

Pedro – People were living here until a very short time ago. They left in a hurry.

Narrator - Pedro carried me through several tall, richly decorated rooms to a smaller room in a corner of the great house. He helped me to lie down on the bed. There were a lot of very fine modern pictures in this room.

Traveller – There is a smaller room here. Let’s see it. Hey, Pedro! Look at this painting! It looks like a picture! Come over here!

Pedro – Uau, the woman looks very beautiful!

Narrator 1 – The picture was a portrait. It was oval in shape, and showed the head and shoulders of a young woman. After that, I began to sleep. I was in a room, in a brightly lit room. The young woman was a beautiful young flower, and always so happy. She was smiling, but her smile began to fade away.

Painter – Look here darling! I want to paint you, because you have my heart.

Woman – Ok.

Narrator 2 – The woman loved all things but one: her husband’s work.

Painter – It looks just perfect!

Narrator 2 – Weeks went by, and the woman began to feel weak. But she didn’t tell her husband, because his life was his work, and she didn’t want to make her husband heavyhearted. And then, I saw a terrible scene: the finished painting and the beautiful woman on the floor, dead. I woke up with a scream.
Pedro – Hey friend, wake up! We have to go now!

Narrator 1 – I got out of the bed; Pedro and I left the house, and we went away. That young woman of the oval portrait was in my thoughts forever.

Narrator – Maria Thereza (Nº28 – 1ºC)
Men – Henrique Basile (Nº21 – 1ºB)
Painter – Eduardo Villaça (Nº09 – 1ºD)
Lady – Ada Arnt (Nº01 – 1ºF)

The Oval Portrait

Narrator: After a long journey, a traveler and his servant entered into an abandoned house to relax. The house was huge, but it was scaring and also dark. The man had a high temperature and the lights of the house were turned off.

Men: Let me sit on that sofa to rest. Man, this headache is killing me! (he sees an oval portrait) Oh my God! What a beautiful portrait! And what a beautiful lady! She looks so happy. Hmm, there’s a book that tells the story of the portrait. Interesting… let me read it.

Narrator: The story was about a painter and his wife.

Painter: My dear wife, you know that I have only two passions in my life.

Lady: Yes, it’s me and painting, right?

Painter: Exactly. It would be fantastic if I could put them together!

Lady: How interesting! It sounds like a really good idea. What are you thinking about?

Painter: I was thinking of painting you. Are you ok with that?

Lady: It would be a pleasure, my dear.

Narrator: The lady sits on a chair and stay there for hours while her husband starts painting her.

Lady: Dear, I know that you want to finish the painting, but can we take a break? I’m not feeling really well…

Painter: No, be quiet and stay here without talking!

Narrator: Two weeks later...

Painter: I’m almost finished… (a moment later) finally, I did it! It’s the most realistic portrait ever! Dear, what do you think about it? Dear…? Dear…!?

Narrator: He tries to help her, but it was to late… she was already dead!

(It appears the man of the beginning of the story, shaking with the book in his hands. He throws the book to the floor and runs screaming scared of the story and went out of the house).