The 2/24/10 issue of Philadelphia Weekly singled out Brat as Philadelphia's "Best Inexpensive Alternative Theater." Check out the article here, which also includes shout-outs to Maukingbird ("Best Gay Theater"), Philadelphia Theatre Company ("Best Secret Theater Deals for Students") and InterAct ("Best Power-to-the-People Theater").

Get too close for comfort in this Brat Productions play.
by J. Cooper Robb

In its strikingly original production Haunted Poe, Brat Productions gives audiences the opportunity to get up close and personal with one of Philly’s most famous men of letters.

 Haute house of horrors

"Haunted Poe" turns literary tales of terror into a theatrical production staged in a converted warehouse.

Tue, Oct. 6, 2009

From The Philadelphia Inquirer

Director/actress Madi Distefano and the crew from Brat Productions last week carted buckets of live cockroaches into the South Philly warehouse that is the site for their world premiere of Haunted Poe, an Edgar Allan Poe-themed haunted house/theatrical event opening tomorrow.

Sealed behind the masonry is a cask of amontillado, underneath the floorboards beats a tell-tale heart, and all around the room glides the masque of Red Death. Edgar Allan Poe’s wormwood-soaked brain will be seeping through the rooms and hallways built in a South Philadelphia warehouse space as the master of the macabre’s greatest hits come to life for the 200th anniversary of his birth. Brat Productions’ theater piece is as immersive as the House of Usher, using a cast of actors with music, video and puppetry to build a suspenseful creep.

 Brad Helm has some experience working with scary attractions.

TWO DOORS lead off Jackson Street into a large South Philly warehouse. One door leads the visitor to descend into the domain of the long-running Fright Factory attraction; through the other, one wanders into a maze of eerie rooms that at first glance wouldn't seem out of place downstairs.

"Bad things happen here; the biggest magic trick of the night happens in here."

Once upon a midnight dreary, while we pondered, weak and weary, lame Halloweens of yore, suddenly, there came a tapping: News of a haunted house at our chamber door.

Halloween in Philadelphia has risen to a new level with Brat Productions “Haunted Poe”. Venture into the 10,000 square foot warehouse at 38 Jackson Street to experience the genius of Brat Productions and Edgar Allan Poe. Be there! 

Halloween is still almost a month off, but haunted houses already are beginning to open in the region. One of them pays tribute to the acknowledged master of horror: Edgar Allen Poe.

On the 200th anniversary of Poe's birth, a Philadelphia theater company has put together a haunt with literary trappings.