'The Uninvited' pushes suspenseful limits

Seldom do local high school drama groups try their hands at real, mysterious ghost tales.

If ghosts do pop up in their plays, the spirits are usually funny or mischievous. And those productions that do rely on fear and suspense rarely employ the supernatural as a device to inspire those emotions.

Central High School's Red Dagger theater club's fall production flies in the face of the normal high school play. "The Uninvited" is a ghost story -- a bit unnerving in its implications about the living left behind by the dead and rarely funny.

What little comedy is involved is supplied by one character, the servant Lizzie played by Cat Goeke -- a practical, superstitious salt-of-the-earth type. Other than Lizzie's few humorous moments, which are rare, "The Uninvited" is a dark obsession for a dead woman.

The play takes place at an English house acquired by a young brother and sister, Pam (Suzanne Burke) and Roddy (Zach Reeves). Even though England is the setting, the actors don't perform in dialect -- which can often be the best choice for high school productions.

Rumored hauntings

The siblings have just purchased the home from an angry, sickly old man, Commander Brooke (Matt Hileman), who lives with his granddaughter, an immature young woman named Stella (Taylor McMillan). Stella's mother died at the house years ago, and there are rumors that she still haunts the place. Stella is obsessed with her memory, and possibly her spirit.

The play unravels the mystery behind the haunting, which ends with a twist that might be easy to see, but remains intriguing nonetheless.

The events take place in the old house's living room area, so don't go expecting quick and elaborate set changes. Instead the mystery, along with some ghostly light tricks, build suspense and, in the final act, accentuate the action.

A relatively small number of characters make up the cast, but "The Uninvited" showcases the talents of some familiar and new faces at Central: Emily Ponder as a otherworld-obsessed actress Wendy; Heath Daniel as her ultraflamboyant artist pal; Quitman McBride III showing he can act as well as sing as Dr. Scott; and Sami Gross as the cold-as-ice Miss Holloway.

This is not the typical feel-good production often chosen by many high schools. But like Notre Dame Regional High School's fall production, "The Mousetrap," the suspense built into "The Uninvited" gives high school actors a chance to break through their normal roles and try their hands at something scary.

msanders@semissourian.com

335-6611, extension 182

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Want to go?

• What: Central High School Red Dagger's "The Uninvited"
• Where: Cape Central Junior High School Auditorium
• When: 7:30 p.m. today, Friday and Saturday (Nov. 16-18)
• Info: 335-8228