Stage Right by Cindy Fjermestad

October is a fitting time for all things odd and eerie to occur, and “The Haunting of Hill House” is a play that will bring real and imagined frights to the stage! The play is based on a book by Shirley Jackson, author of the more well-known short story “The Lottery.”

The play is directed by Rory Matson and is the first drama he has directed for Albert Lea Community Theatre in more than 20 years. “The Haunting of Hill House” is the first of four plays that ACT will revive this season to celebrate the 50th anniversary of Albert Lea Community Theatre!

A main character in the play is Hill House itself. The Victorian house has character, mystery and history, all of which guide the plot and affect the characters in the story.

Steve Kinney, a veteran of many ACT productions, has outdone himself with an impressive representation of Hill House. It is a true-to-period design with 12-foot walls, a large dark parlor and a small upstairs bedroom. The set is not moved, though the action occurs both downstairs and upstairs, as well as in a tower attached to the house!

In support of Steve Kinney’s excellent set, Rosalie Truax has brought in props and set dressing that take the audience back in time. An antique trunk, lace doilies and antimacassars, old books and a velvet settee create a delightful scene for the action to occur. Note that in this set, all of the lights and lamps work, including the beaded sconces flanking the French doors. Kudos to lighting designer Dietrich Poppen!

The main story of the play is a visit to Hill House by a scientist, Dr. Montague, and three people he has invited to observe and draw out the oddities and mysteries of Hill House. Dr. Montague, ably played by actor Larry Pierce, ensures all that he is just a scientist looking for evidence of psychic phenomena. He is low-key and very pleasant, but he is an expert at planting seeds of doubt and suspicion! What is there to be afraid of? But there may be supernatural manifestations and, as he says, a house can attach itself to you!

Invited guests consist of Eleanor, a young woman who has had a telekinetic experience after the death of her mother; Theodora, a young woman who is supposed to have ESP; and Luke, the heir to Hill House and all of its dark past.

These are respectively played by Emily Troe, Raquel Hellman, and Dustin Smith. Each character is a unique personality and each has a differing view of the powers of a haunted house. They present a lively discussion of the meaning of events in their pasts and of their feelings about spending time in a house that has seen tragic “suicide, madness and lawsuits.”

Some much-needed levity is added by three other characters. Susan Price plays housekeeper, Mrs. Dudley. She thoroughly, and delightfully, startles the guests with her references to their being alone, far from all help, and in the utter quiet in the dark. Her words foreshadow the unease they will experience in their nights at Hill House.

Kristan Dye as Mrs. Montague and Mark Price as Arthur reveal the silliness of a Ouija board in contacting the spirits of the house. But even the Ouija board gets some hints right!

This play will give you many possible clues that Hill House is truly haunted. Which can be laughed off and which cannot? As Dr. Montague reminds all, ghosts have never hurt anyone — physically, but what of our grasp on reality? This play is sure to make us share a ghost story or two of our own. Enjoy the shivers!

“The Haunting of Hill House” continues Wednesday through Saturday! Ticket prices are $15 for adults and $10 for students.  Curtain time is 7:30 p.m. For more information, check out the ACT Website, www.actonbroadway.com, and “Like” them on Facebook!

 

Cynthia Fjermestad is a retired English teacher from Albert Lea. She volunteers in the Albert Lea Community Theatre box office, at Naeve Hospital Auxiliary and for Friends of the Library.