Something’s going down in Usher’s house

The Grim Reaper’s been hanging out at Klahowya Secondary School an awful lot lately. In fact, there’s been a lot of gloom and doom in the school’s auditorium as students ready a performance of Edgar Allen Poe’s “The Fall of the House of Usher.”

The play will be performed at 7 p.m. Nov. 4, 5 and 6 in the Klahowya Secondary theater.

The play centers around Roderick Usher (Brian Donahoe) and his twin sister Madeline (Kasia Alexander). Roderick is engaged and calls off the engagement after the eerie mansion he and his sister live in drives him crazy and she to her deathbed.

“When Madeline appears near death, the doctor warns (Roderick) not to bury her until he is certain she is dead,” said director Jacqueline Levenseller, a teacher at Klahowya Secondary.

When Usher jumps the gun, he starts to experience events that can only be explained as supernatural.

The students in the cast range from experienced actors to theater newbies.

Because the students’ talents and skill levels vary, sometimes Levenseller needs to draw on informal tutoring from outside sources. She encourages the students to watch plays and films and suggests characters or actors they can use as role models, she said.

“I think their viewing other performers really helps out,” Levenseller said.

Because the play is a challenging one, the performers have to be dedicated to their craft. The rehearsals run four days a week for two hours a day, and get longer as the performance grows nearer.

Even though the rehearsals take up a lot of time, Levenseller insists the students stay current on homework.

“I do ask them to bring their homework and when they’re not on, they work on homework,” she said.

The students, both new and not-so-new to the stage, are enjoying the process.

Seventh-grader Jake Becker, 12, is enjoying his first-ever experience in theater. He works behind the scenes as a jack of all trades.

“They let everyone be involved,” Becker said.

He said the eerie play doesn’t scare him.

“I know it’s all fake, but it’s really fun to watch,” Becker said.

Eighth-grader Julia Woloschek, 13, is a veteran on the stage and only gets freaked out by the play under certain circumstances.

“At night, when I’m reading the script, it’s kind of creepy,” she said.

Admission is $4 for Klahowya students with an ASB card and $5 general admission. Tickets are on sale at the Klahowya Secondary bookkeeper’s office and at the Kitsap Mall information desk.

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