DOWAGIAC — The stage of the Dowagiac Performing Arts Center has been transformed into a 1920s-living room with a white staircase looming in the background. This weekend, audiences will be invited into the living room of the Flood family as they travel up and down those same stairs and live their lives.

Dowagiac Union School District’s commitment as a “Be nice.” school, inspired director Tammy Mammel to select “The Dark at the Top of the Stairs,” as this year’s fall play. She felt the play would spark discussions surrounding important topics like bullying and mental health.

“The Dark at the Top of the Stairs” will debut this weekend at the Dowagiac Middle School Performing Arts Center, 57072 Riverside Dr., Dowagiac. Performances will be at 7 p.m. on Friday and Saturday, and at 2 p.m. Sunday. Student and senior tickets will cost $5 and adult tickets will cost $7.

“The Dark at the Top of the Stairs,” written by William Inge in 1957, explores family conflicts in the early 1920s in small-town Oklahoma. The play, nominated for the Tony Award for best play in 1958, was later adapted into a film in 1960.

“The dad, [Rubin Flood], is abusive. The daughter, [Reenie Flood], is very insecure and self-conscious because of dealing with all of that her whole life,” Mammel said. “The little boy, [Sonny Flood], gets picked on all the time. He is bullied and the mom, [Cora Flood], is just trying to keep it all together.”

Mammel’s hope is for audiences to take away an understanding that people do not always know what is going on in other people’s homes.

“Everybody is dealing with challenges that we don’t know about,” Mammel said. “It’s important that we start talking about some of those issues and helping each other through some of those issues, instead of having such a stigma around mental health.”

The actors, who range in age from sixth grade through 12th grade, have discussed how abuse and bullying can affect their respective characters.

During tech week, a representative from a department that deals with sexual abuse and suicide visited the actors to talk about how these themes could be displayed through their characters.

“I thought it was really important that somebody that is a professional and has dealt with families and people that have struggled with these kinds of things actually help them understand their characters,” Mammel said.

With the fall play being the drama department’s first performance of the school year, Mammel is welcoming fresh faces.

The play’s cast includes nine students, seven of which will be making their stage debut at the Friday night performance.

“For most of them, this is their first time ever on stage,” Mammel said.

As the excitement builds up for the actors, Mammel hopes the audiences’ emotions will also be built up during the play.

Out of all the scenes, Mammel is most looking forward to the audience witnessing a scene set in the family’s living room between Cora, Reenie and Sonny. As Reenie walks up the white staircase, she will vanish from the audience’s view. Mammel alluded to this scene as a “reveal.”

“It’s the emotional highlight. It’s the peak,” she said.