DETROIT,Mich. — Remember the creepy twin sisters in “The Shining?” They are all grown up and have landed in New York City.

Not really. The twins in the Detroit Repertory Theatre’s The House on Poe Street are way more articulate and engaging than the Grady twins. It’s hard to go wrong with weaving science fiction and quirky comedy with a dash of fake British accents and colorful wigs. Never mind that one sister is Caucasian, the other African American, and they really don’t look much alike. Their sensibilities certainly are the same. And they both have the extraordinary talents for “harmonizing, analyzing, theorizing and memorizing,” as they are fond of proclaiming. Their singing is supposed to be comedic, but it’s actually quite lovely.

The twin sisters (played by Ashley M. Lyle and Sara Catheryn Wolf) have inherited the house where Edgar Allan Poe is reputed to have composed “The Raven.” Their mother was a bit of a mad scientist with a feminist agenda. The girls actually started off in-utero as boys, but their mother manipulated the fetuses via chemicals so that they would turn into girls pre-birth. If that sounds strange, buckle up, because it’s par for the course in this wacky play.

The twins were born in the U.S. but were raised in England, thus the accents. The Cockney accents are a little over-the-top at times and make it slightly hard to understand some of the dialogue. But it’s one of those plays that even if you can’t make out every single word, you still understand the gist of what’s happening.

The play opens with Mendel Steingold (Michael Lopetrone), the twins’ real estate lawyer, telling his investment club about when he was handed the keys to the estate. Lopetrone is excellent in the role, one he seems born to play.

The twins end up enlisting Mendel for help “to use their powers for good and to make a difference in this world.” As Mendel, his fiancée Samara Silverman (Mackenzie Stephens) and friends are drawn into the twins’ world and the house of Poe, he begins to unravel, and his comfortable, masculine life becomes threatened.

This is the world premiere of playwright Fengar Gael’s play. Original music was composed by Sheilah Rae and the director is Leah Smith, who has been marketing director and was recently named artistic director of the Detroit Rep.

The cast also includes Jonathan Jones as Sam’s brother Lawrence and Calvin Biggs, Jr. as his friend Justin Rutherford. They end up as suitors of the twins. Their nondescript supporting characters end up taking a twist at the end in which they both nearly steal the show.

But who really does steal the show is Harold Jurkiewicz as the comedic ghostbuster Lithian Nickels, who has a penchant for saying “Ommmmm” when trying to channel the spirits in the house.

The set and lighting add so much to the production. The walls in the house’s parlor are several moody shades of red and the ornate furnishings set the scene for the offbeat happenings.

The production team includes Harry Wetzel as stage manager, set and prop designer, with light design by Thomas Schraeder, sound design by Burr Huntington, and costume design by Anthony Toney.

The play almost feels a little like an homage to “The “Rocky Horror Picture Show” in several respects, and if you like that movie you’ll absolutely love this play. However, it’s not all comedic; there are some elements having to do with gender stereotypes that offer up food for thought. It’s definitely time well spent with this wonderful and historic theater company.

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