Zombies are currently all the rage in pop culture. From the ever-growing Zombie Walk in Toronto to one of TV’s hottest shows, Walking Dead, to the upcoming Brad Pitt summer flick, World War Z, it’s pretty cool to be dead right now.
So it’s fitting that Night of the Living Dead, the 1968 film that got the proverbial “head rolling,” is having a renaissance, thanks to a new play based on the film by co-creators Christopher Harrison and Phil Pattison.
This time around, audiences will visit the creepy farmhouse onstage at Toronto’s Theatre Passe Muraille rather than onscreen.
“We make films and we wanted to branch out,” says Harrison. “And because the movie takes place in a farmhouse during one night, we thought we could do the play set in a farmhouse.” It doesn’t hurt that the pair are also huge horror fans.
“It’s just the adrenaline rush of [horror films],” says Harrison. “It’s why we jump out of airplanes. And I love it.”
You can imagine their delight, then, when their childhood idol, George A. Romero, the creator of the original film, not only gave them his personal blessing for their project, but is also one of the play’s executive producers.
“We’re working with our hero,” says Pattison. “It’s come full swing and it’s magic for me.”
Also on board for the interactive show is Christopher Bond, the director of Evil Dead: The Musical, a made-in-Toronto play inspired by a horror flick, which went on to be produced off-Broadway.
“I was approached by Chris and Phil,” says Bond. “They saw my work from Evil Dead and had the rights to the show and asked me if I wanted to be a part of it. They gave me a script they sort of crafted. It was more serious and I thought the audience would relate to it more on a broader scale if it had a comedy element to it.”
Bond recruited his writing partner Trevor Martin and Martin’s wife, Second City veteran Dale Boyer, to punch up the script.
The result is a night of silly campiness and corny gore similar to Evil. But what sets it apart is that Night is more of a sketch comedy rather than musical theatre, with the cast playing out several different scenarios of the night’s events.
The show is deemed “interactive,” but that only means a few zombies walk through the audience. Sticking to the film’s black and white colour scheme, the play is done the same: the set is mostly white and grey, costumes are in muted shades, and the actors’ faces are painted white.
The evening feels more like a fan expo, with theatre-goers cheering at memorable lines. There’s even footage from the movie that plays at the height of a slapstick scene. The energy and enjoyment of the play is palpable, and the show is definitely a bloody good time for those who haven’t yet caught Romero’s film and most especially for its diehard fans.
Night of the Living Dead Live, Theatre Passe Muraille, runs until May 19
