Editor's note: Due to Hurricane Irma, all play researsals had to be postponed as well as the scheduled performance dates. The organizers will announce a new date once Irma has passed.
The Richmond Hill Community Theatre kicks off its 2017-18 season with “An Evening with Edgar Allan Poe” by Robert Mason, a collection of six plays associated with the iconic 19th century writer.
Performances will be held at 8 p.m. on Friday, Sept. 15 and at 3 p.m. and 8 p.m. on Saturday, Sept. 16 at the John W. Stevens Wetlands Education Center, 240 Cedar St., Richmond Hill.
Tickets are $15 for premium seating, $12 general admission, and $10 for military, students 14 and under, and seniors 65 and over, and can be purchased online at rhcommunitytheatre.com.
The production is led by two directors: Allen Edwards and Thomas Harris, who thanked the cast and crew for “months of hard work.” They added, “We commend our cast and crew for the long hours of practice, memorization, and manual labor spent on set building. It seemed all were passionate about the work of Edgar Allan Poe, and many were deep into character shortly into rehearsals. This troupe of characters has made us proud.”
Starting the show is “The Cask of Amontillado” which portrays how a simple slight can lead to disastrous results. “The Purloined Letter” demonstrates the methods of Poe’s premier private investigator, C. Auguste Dupin. “The Fall of the House of Usher” shows a rare malady’s final days on the Ushers. Just before intermission, witness the insane asylum from an unusual angle in “The System of Dr. Tarr and Professor Fether.” After intermission, “The Oblong Box” follows a voyage where one of the passengers brings a strange piece of cargo on board, causing peculiar behavior. Finally, “The Telltale Heart” shows how guilt can manifest itself in the mind of the guilty.
“An evening with Edgar Allan Poe” is Edwards’ directorial debut with the Richmond Hill Community Theatre. His stage debut was in RHCT’s 2016 “Robin Hood”.
Harris has been involved in 11 RHCT productions since 2013.