Theater Review: Cape Rep’s Creepy ‘House of Usher’ Perfect Halloween Entertainment

 Get the hell outta there! 

 Just a few minutes into Ed Allen’s arrival you find yourself saying to yourself: Go! Leave this place, there’s something off here. The perfect scenario for a horror story, right? 

 I’ll admit that I was more familiar with Edgar Allan Poe’s tale than Gip Hoppe’s adaptation — a terrible admission from a seasoned Cape Cod theater reviewer, I know. Hoppe is well known to Cape theatergoers for co-founding the Wellfleet Harbor Actor’s Theater, along with his compelling and tongue-in-cheek dialogue as a playwright and as a gifted actor. He had an incredible career both on and off the Cape. He once told a friend, “Creating great theater is the only sane response to a crazy world.” 

 Cape Rep opted to produce Hoppe’s “The Fall of the House of Usher” in recognition of contributions to Cape theater; he passed away just about a year ago. This adaptation is one of Hoppe’s earliest works. He set the 1840 Poe tale of mysterious family bonds, madness and a creepy mansion in his then-present day, the 1990s. Poe’s “unnamed visitor” is named Ed Allen (with a nod to Poe) in Hoppe’s version. Ed and Roderick Usher went to school together many years ago. Roderick has been isolated in the mansion ever since with his twin sister Madeline and her doctor, Dr. Dumas. 

Ed has a normal life with a wife and a child and only plans to stay for the afternoon to find out why his old friend called him out of the blue. That afternoon turns into an overnight visit, then two, then…well, you get the gist. The house seems to have a life of its own.

 The cast is superb. Mike Steers’ Roderick is creepy, pushing the envelope on an over-the-top performance on the edge of madness in a splendid portrayal. By contrast, Jade Schulyer’s Madeline is crazy in full bloom. Schulyer perfectly captures the manic sibling. Nathaniel Hall Taylor’s Ed Allen is fascinating in the way he reacts to the two — first stymied, then enthralled. His performance serves as a defining catalyst between the brother and sister. Amid all this spooky drama, we also witness the hilarity of Ari Lew’s portrayal of Dr. Dumas (once referred to as Dr. Dumbass by one of the characters!). In addition, Roderick’s dead parents (Jefferson Thomas and Jenn Pina) and ancestor (Colin Bourget) reveal another level of the mansion’s sinister power. Julie Allen Hamilton and Jack Kerig, as Ed’s parents, inject some more macabre humor into Act Two. Love these two!

 Under James P. Byrne’s direction, Cape Rep has recreated the play in a way that I’m sure would have made Hoppe proud. They employed J Hagenbuckle to replicate his original sound design from Hoppe’s production. That music and the sound effects, combined with John Malinowski’s lighting on Ryan McGettigan’s expansive and complex set, create an ethereal world. And let’s just say Cat Perry’s costume designs cover the gamut of Hoppe’s creative mind for this story. Stage manager Kaleigh Mason does a superb job keeping all the frenetic energy on stage in check.

 The show is sure to get you in the Halloween mood, and is about two hours long with a brief intermission.