As the wind gradually chills, and the trees go from green to reds and oranges, summer ends and fall begins. With the fall season, Bellevue East is filled with activities and events. This year at East the drama department has been cooking up their newest fall production. 

Directed by Joseph Hamik and Jerry Geho, “The Haunting of Hill House” by Shirley Jackson is this year’s Fall play. The story of the play has macabre and spooky events revolving around a smaller cast of characters. These more      horror-esque lements make for a nice communal addition to the Halloween season.

“The Haunting of Hill House is a Haunted House play about a group of paranormal investigators who are looking to see if they can get to the bottom of the mystery behind the supposed haunting of the Hill House built by Hue Crane,” Geho said.

The directors and actors, early on into rehearsals this year, have been focusing on character and of course story. Some of the cast can even find themselves relating to their characters, like senior Rylee Selph who plays as Theodora in the play.

“Honestly, I feel like I relate to my character a lot. Theodora acts how I feel like I would act, and I feel like she has the same mood and vibe as me,” Selph said.

And this year’s production is living up to the saying “small but mighty.” With a cast of 6 actors, a lot of work with character, blocking, and memorization is needed in order to give a thrilling and convincing performance. 

“A lot of the characters, even though it’s a small cast, are very intricate and complex characters. So Hamik and I and the cast are really excited to allow the kids to really dive into the inner complexities of those characters,” Geho said. “Letting them deal with some of their traumas and bringing those to life on stage and really show off what East has for acting.” 

The average fall play takes lots of time, effort, and planning in order for it to be a successful production. This is done through the long process of auditions, read-throughs, blocking out movements on stage, character study, and of course the aesthetic side of things like costumes. But it can go deeper than that with the cast being able to form strong friendships, such as sophomore Pika McCulloch.

“All the other cast members have been really nice, they are very accepting of people who are LGBTQ+ and other things like that. And it’s a lot of fun to work with them, they are very accepting and just a very fun cast to work with,” Pika said.

This cast and crew have been working hard in order to make this show possible and to the best of their abilities. By working together in cast readings, blocking out the show, and understanding their characters, this cast and crew is steadily preparing the debut performance this Oct. 17. And they all agree that you should come and see the show.

“This one feels different, with the amount of work, and we have been really aggressive so far and are only going to get more so as we go on. We’ve gotten posters  in, we’re reaching out to local businesses and putting ads in things like the Bellevue Little Theater and all kinds of stuff. We are really hitting the ground running in advertising and I really think this has the potential to  be one of the bigger fall shows we’ve ever seen,” Hamik said.

As the days get colder and the Halloween spirit begins to settle into the community, the Bellevue East Theater Department is bringing a special treat in the form of the fall play. The production this year is “The Haunting of Hill House” and this year’s actors and crew are working their hardest in order to bring the best show possible. Including Pika McCulloch, one of the student actors for this year’s production. “Come watch the show; don’t let all our hard work go to waste,” McCulloch said.