Materials for Actors
Clues: this link will come and go, depending on whether the simulation is active or not. Actors, be sure to bookmark the URL for later reference. Clues for the Jokaydia Grid House of Usher are being added constantly.
Poems: These are works by Poe, but for the simulation they are the work of the Ushers or their ancestors, and thematically they connect to ideas in Poe's tale.
Story Arcs for Usher: Actors Should Feel Free to Improv Within These Broad Categories
- Tarn itself is unhealthy, and it contributes to Roderick's madness and Madeline's illness.
- Roderick is giving his sister Chloroform (introduced in 1847) to help her overcome her sleep-walking. It contributes to her coma.
- Doctor plots to get Lady Madeline's body quickly from the house by luring Roderick away with some ruse the servants will spring. He's been paying them and doing little favors for them. Some notes have been left by "Jenkins," a servant who has been in contact with the doctor.
- Supernatural agency at play: details up to the cast to determine. Perhaps an ancestor's ghost, enacting a curse?
General Advice to Actors:
IM to keep the students in the dark. You might chat them up for a bit, make an excuse, then retire to your bedrooms. This will give the students the chance to explore the house for, say, 20 minutes. Then Madeline might sleepwalk, faint, whatever you choose. During the Beta-test I may have the students come to the House early to explore a little to learn more about the place. I'm not sure.
You will have maps; the students won't. I might hide one as a clue, however! Roderick, warn them about how dangerous the crypt can be...those rats carry disease!
Madeline needs to go into coma at a certain point in the tale. It may be too laggy to tote her down with the help of the students, so we could simply roleplay it. Roderick would tell the visitors that he's taken her body to the tomb, and the actor playing Madeline would have moved to the tomb, where Rod laid her to rest. The designers hope to provide a few discretely hidden teleporters so actors can move about instantly.
Then the students may decide to rescue her or try to convince Roderick that she may not be dead after all.
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