This fall, the Rolla High School dramatics team is back in full swing, after experiencing a hybrid schedule during the 2020-2021 school year. Shuddersome: Tales of Poe hits the stage in-person this October, contrasting last fall’s play, which was presented virtually. 

“Shuddersome: Tales of Poe is essentially a theatrical staging of six short stories or poems written by Edgar Allan Poe. They’re presented with a narrator, who is Rosalie Poe, which is actually Edgar’s half sister,” stated Kelli McNeven, RHS drama teacher and director of Tales of Poe, “She kind of presents all the stories, but her relationship with Edgar was strained, so she’s sort of pessimistic about all of the stories and about him.”

The drama department is full of excitement as they undergo preparation for the upcoming weekend. In addition, due to a strenuous previous year, many upperclassmen have left the department.

“[We are feeling] pretty good overall. We’ve got a lot of young actors in this one and young tech members as well. Right now, we’re in the process of making sure that we’ve got all of our lines and tech cues situated by the time we perform,” explained McNeven. 

Although COVID precautions are still in place, they are much more relaxed, which allows for more actors, more seating, and more rehearsals. 

“We don’t have a cap on our audience sizes this year, but we did still try to keep some structures in place,” commented McNeven, “One of the reasons we chose the show was because it allowed each scene to only have a specific set of actors, and so that allowed us to have a lot of people involved.” 

The drama department of RHS is looking forward to having a seated audience once again, and Shuddersome: Tales of Poe is sure to be a captivating performance.

“It’s next Friday and Saturday night: October 8 and 9, at 7:30 both nights. The doors will open for the audience to begin seating at seven o’clock. If you’d like to purchase tickets you should go online to our website, which is bit.ly/RPSDRAMATIX.” announced McNeven. 

Tickets cost $7.00 and are not sold at the door; they must be bought online. Most English teachers offer extra credit as an incentive for attending the play, so it is a great way for students to simultaneously have fun and earn points.