DECATUR - Gail Wilkerson is taking a leap of faith with Lutheran School Association High School, but it has more to do with art than religion.

Playwright Wilkerson will see her work "Two-Story House" be given its world premiere next weekend by LSA's drama team, after being selected by students who participated in last year's play.

Wilkerson said she's entrusting the work to the high school troupe, "because I saw this as an opportunity to pay back a school that I went to."

The Eisenhower graduate was a student at St. John's and St. Paul's schools before they became LSA.

"It's a fantastic opportunity to get my play out there," Wilkerson said, "and, hopefully, things will take off from there. I've been writing for some time, and that's what I'm going to do."

Wilkerson has written additional works that feature two of the characters in the play, including a book on which she's currently working.

She is related to some people connected with the production. Her brother Rich is one of the "drama papas" and is in charge of set construction; her sister-in-law Katrina is the play's producer; and her niece Laura is one of the actors.

But they're innocent of nepotism charges. Students who participated in last year's play did blind reads of potential selections for this year and wound up selecting "Two-Story House," a murder mystery that takes place in two time frames on one stage.

"We were looking for a drama," cast member Karsten Burgstahler said.

"It's hard to find a story we can do," cast member Joren Martin added.

School policy, written and unwritten, prohibits love scenes and onstage death. Plays can be revised, which happened with last year's production. Before submitting her work, Wilkerson removed an onstage death.

Producer Katrina Wilkerson said she's open to the idea of the school's drama team presenting additional new works.

"I absolutely think there's so much talent in Decatur," she said. "If there's anyone who has something just sitting on their shelf, we'd love to read anything anyone wants to donate to us."

Tim Cain can be reached at timcain@herald-review.com or 421-6908.