The Masque of the Red Death (play) to create hidden set pieces within the performance in response to themes of the main show, including Kneehigh, Blind Summit, Julian Fox, Kazuko Hohki, Hannah Ringham and BAC's Young People's Theatre. Despite the title, the show was actually based on eight Edgar Allan Poe tales, including "The Masque of the Red Death", "The Black Cat", "William Wilson", "The Fall of the House of Usher", "Berenice", "Ligeia", "The System of Doctor Tarr and Professor Fether", "The Telltale Heart" and "The Cask of Amontillado". The show did not utilise a central narrative beyond the loose themes of The Masque Of The Red
Masque of the Red Death and Other Tales of the Red Death setting combines real-world history with legends and literature. Thus, necromancers practice dark arts among the slave traders of New Orleans, while Buenos Aires agricultural barons attempt to squelch rumors of monstrous winged serpents. Spirit creatures stalk the settlers of the American West. Sherlock Holmes shares a railroad car with Count Dracula. Unlike the basic Ravenloft setting, where mysterious mists divide the realm into distinct settings, the Gothic Earth setting has no divisions. "Masque" begins by replacing the traditional character classes with soldiers (like fighters, but can’t specialize in favored weapons), adepts (wizards with limited magic and