No theatrics were necessary to produce a dramatic scene at the Whidbey Playhouse Tuesday.

Just when business manager Janis Powell had thought she’d seen everything at the playhouse, two heavy downpours of rain sent sheets of water rolling underneath the front door, down the interior stairs and into the building’s lobby, office and green room.

“It just came down the stairs like a tsunami,” Powell said.

The heavy bursts of rain and ice that hit North and Central Whidbey Island Tuesday afternoon created road hazards and flooding headaches in Oak Harbor.

Pools of standing water slowed traffic on State Highway 20 while it also backed up and overflowed into structures.

Hot Rock Pizza on Pioneer Way in Oak Harbor was forced to close for two hours Tuesday because water was entering the kitchen through the ceiling. After a thorough cleanup, the restaurant was able to re-open in time for dinner customers, manager Jess Wagner said.

The two rain bursts hit about an hour apart, starting shortly before 2 p.m.

In reality, only about a quarter-inch of precipitation was measured in Coupeville and Oak Harbor Tuesday but the ferocity couldn’t be ignored.

Julia Locke, a longtime playhouse board member, was driving back from Burlington and approaching the Deception Pass Bridge when the second downpour hit, forcing her to pull off the road because of poor visibility.

“We’ve had flooding in the playhouse before,” she said, “so I figured we were going to have some flooding so I went directly to the playhouse instead of going home.”

By that time, playhouse president Rusty Hendrix had already made a call out for help on the playhouse’s Facebook page and members and supporters responded quickly with Shop-Vacs and high-powered fans.

Before that, Powell, her husband Hector and actor Kevin Wm. Meyer had been using everything in sight to stem the tide of water from under the door, including pieces of carpet, Powell’s sweaters, a jacket and pot holders from the kitchen.

A French drain near the playhouse entrance wasn’t able to keep up with the rapid accumulation of water in the parking lot and eventually the water level raised high enough at the front door to enter the lower-level building.

After holding up well against the first front of rain using everything they could find, Powell said she remembers watching Meyer’s face when they heard the rain pound on the roof again a short time later.

Meyer is known for his comedy at the playhouse, but this was no laughing matter.

“Kevin opened the door again a little bit and said, ‘This doesn’t seem good,’ ” Powell said.