DATE: Thursday, October 9, 1997             TAG: 9710070151

SECTION: NORFOLK COMPASS         PAGE: 08   EDITION: FINAL 

SOURCE: BY JOAN C. STANUS, STAFF WRITER 

                                            LENGTH:   57 lines

GOTHIC TALES TOLD IN ROYAL VICTORIAN WEEKEND

Isabella Telltale's husband is dead, and the widow is devastated with grief.

As the servants finish shrouding her home for mourning, a menacing upstart appears, claiming to be her husband's rightful heir.

What's a wife to think? Has she been deceived by her beloved husband . . . or has a murder been committed?

Find out the answers to these and other questions during the presentation of the Gothic mystery tale, ``The Widow Deceived,'' Oct. 10 at the Hunter House Victorian Museum.

The play is just one of several ``drama-tours'' offered during the museum's line-up of special events in and around the Freemason Historic District Friday through Sunday as part of its annual Royal Victorian Weekend celebration. The three days of tours, dramas, teas and other activities focus on the Victorian lifestyle, in everything from fashions and servants to grief and household management.

``The Widow Deceived'' will take place Friday at 7 and 8 p.m. Cost is $5.

If Edgar Allen Poe's spine-tingling tales are more to your liking, you might want to try another production, called ``Once Upon A Midnight Dreary.'' The guided tour through the shadowy chambers and illuminated gardens of the former Victorian home will include a ``light-hearted'' recitation and evening tea. The show takes place Saturday at 7 and 8 p.m. Cost, $5.

Several events are new to this year's celebration. Included among them are:

``The World According to Godey's,'' a tea and docent-led tour focusing on household management, child-rearing and culinary advice espoused by ``Godey's Ladies Book,'' a popular women's magazine of the 1800s. (Friday at 1 p.m., and Saturday at 3 p.m. Cost is $3.)

``House To Let or The Mad Housekeeper,'' a ``drama-tour'' led by the townhouse ``housekeeper'' who doubles as a turn-of-the-century real estate agent. (Sunday at 1 p.m. and 2:30 p.m. Cost is $3.)

``One Foot in the Grave,'' a ``grave-digger'' who knows the dark and intimate secrets of the dead leads a tour through Norfolk's historic Victorian Elmwood cemetery. (Sunday at 1 p.m. Cost is $5.)

A trolley tour, called ``Steeples and Stained Glass,'' that focuses on Norfolk's historic churches and their architecture. Dessert and coffee will be served afterward at Freemason Abbey (From 1-4 p.m. Saturday. Cost is $10.)

Many of the annual weekend's perennial favorites also will continue this year. Particularly popular among visitors is an architectural tour through the historic district, culminating with a luncheon at Freemason Abbey (Saturday at 10 a.m.); a look at Gilded Age servants and their duties in ``Up Before the Lark'' (at 1 and 2 p.m. on Saturday); and a paper-doll tea and poetry reading (at 4 p.m. Saturday).

Advance reservations and ticket purchases are necessary. Call the museum at 623-9814 for more information. The Hunter House is at 240 Freemason St. ILLUSTRATION: Photo

A Gilded Age ``servant'' performs his duties in ``Up Before the

Lark.''

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