Open Mic Night at Westminster Cemetery

Publication date: September 1, 2018

Description: 

When Lacy wakes up dead in Westminster Cemetery, final resting place of Edgar Allan Poe, she's confused. It's the job of Sam, a young soldier who died in 1865, to teach her the rules of the afterlife and to warn her about Suppression—a punishment worse than death.

Lacy desperately wants to leave the cemetery and find out how she died, but every soul is obligated to perform a job. Given the task of providing entertainment, Lacy proposes an open mic, which becomes a chance for the cemetery's residents to express themselves. But Lacy is in for another shock when surprising and long-buried truths begin to emerge. 

My Thoughts:

According to the "Dear Reader" letter at the beginning, this is based on a true story and was originally written for the Deceased and performed first at Westminster Cemetery in Baltimore, Maryland. Most of the characters are Deceased and indeed if this play is performed in other cemeteries across the country, it will be quite the novel entertainment. 

The scene opens in front of Edgar Allen Poe's cemetery as Sam Steele, want to be poet and romantic struggles to find his muse. When the Raven announces the name of new resident Lacy Brink, the chaos begins, after all  she is the first new dead person in over 100 years. 

This is about love and sorrow, friendship and rules. This is about people who are afraid, stuck and just sleeping through eternity. And this is about one girl who brings hope.

Do readers have to be familiar with the works of Poe in order to read this? No. Except for his Raven who acts as both semi-narrator and sentry, readers do not need to read Poe. 

Instead, the main characters, Sam and Lacy, will appeal to the bookworm, the silent poets, the readers with their own hidden lives. Sam and Lacy will be familiar friends. 

A Few Words:

Perched on Poe's monument, the bird looks directly at us, black eyes glittering. He opens his beak as if to finally give us the truth, to tell us what it all means, to tell us what that vastness of infinity holds for our characters and holds for us, and then a look -- a mixture of humor, pity, and love -- flashes from his eyes and he closes his beak. That thing gathering inside our chests --hope--snags against the prickle of comprehension.  --Scene 10: The Amen

An advanced digital copy provided by Net Galley and the Publisher for an honest review.