NIGHT OF THE LIVING DEAD reviews
Review from Reviewplays.com by Robert Axelrod on Oct 26, 2006
Yes, it’s the real thing. George A. Romero’s black and white cult movie classic has been translated, as they call it, to the stage by writer Leon Shanglebee. If you’re skeptical about whether this can be done well, then you need to see The Gangbusters Theatre Company’s production of NIGHT OF THE LIVING DEAD at the Stella Adler Theatre. Director Christian Levatino ably guides a talented and committed cast and crew through this chiller that remains totally faithful to the feel of the film.
Like the film, the play accurately takes place in 1968 on the outskirts of Pittsburgh. It opens on Barbara ( a letter perfect Sierra Fisk) and her brother Johnny (Levatino) "hiking" across downstage to place a wreath on their dad’s gravesite. Levatino makes good use of the theatre by placing the grave out in the audience in the left aisle. When the first Zombie appeared I said to myself, "Here goes. This encounter is going to make or break this show for me."
There’s no punches pulled when the Zombie attacks the couple, Barbara barely getting away, Johnny not being so lucky. Barbara then gets to the abandoned house, which is the set and a truly effective set it is. There she meets our hero Ben played well by Mancini Graves. Fisk plays Barbara properly scared silly which frustrates Ben.
They are eventually joined by young couple Tom and Judy (Mike Flowers and Laura Liguori), middle aged couple Harry and Helen Cooper (Trent Hopkins and Erin Cummings), and their injured daughter Karen (role shared by sisters Riley and Sofia Boronkay), all of whom have been hiding in the cellar. Hopkins’ Harry Cooper makes the perfect antagonist to Graves’ Ben, and Cummings’ Helen the perfect antagonist to Harry.
This is a piece where antagonism runs rampant if we want to get analytical about it. It’s a piece where a wooden club becomes a precious commodity, where a hammer and nails become tools of raw survival. There’s a bit of suspension of disbelief needed when Ben boards up the windows. It would be cumbersome to get the amount of lumber up that’s actually needed. I had no trouble accepting that, especially because the set rotated to become the cellar that the family was hiding out in. Very impressive!
At one point, the desperate souls pull down an old TV set and tune in to what’s happening. Two TV monitors downstage left and right show the audience what they are looking at on the TV. They watch a newscast where Jonathan R. Burbridge makes for an effective '60's newscaster. They learn that the dead are rising possibly due to a mysterious form of radiation that’s beset earth via a space probe that’s just arrived back from Venus. The rising dead are blood-thirsty, flesh-eating Zombies intent on devouring all that’s human.
The tension never lets up even if you know the story. I’ve got to admire fight coordinator Scott Cummins. The skirmish choreography is totally realistic, whether the humans are fighting the Zombies or fighting among themselves. As I said, the realism is the make/break point in this show. Writer Shanglebee says his objective is to aim for real chills rather than mere camp, in order to create a piece of entertainment worthy of Halloween. Well, he along with the entire ensemble and crew accomplished that and more. Kudos to the make-up crew who made up twenty-five actors as the rampaging Zombies! Ditto the special effects. I give this impressive, yes riveting production FOUR AXELS and urge you to see it!
OFFICIAL PRESS RELEASE
Just when you thought it was safe to go on living…..
A mysterious form of radiation appears in outer space near Earth, just as gangs of rampaging, bloodthirsty, flesh-eating zombies are spotted around the country. Could the two circumstances possibly be related?
Somewhere on the outskirts of Pittsburgh, a brave and resourceful truck driver comes to the aid of a beautiful young woman who is being pursued by the murderous undead who have just killed and begun to devour her brother. They find an isolated house on a country road where, together with a few other desperate human souls, they are determined to make a stand against the wave of the carnivorous Living Dead that threatens to engulf them. It’s live humans vs. undead zombies. Who will prevail?
Playwright Leon Shanglebee has “translated for the stage” a work based on, if not slavishly following, the classic horror film made by George A. Romero in 1968 whose influence far exceeded the size of its budget. Shanglebee says his objective is to aim for chills rather than mere camp, which he disdains, in order to create an entertainment worthy of the Halloween season.
Leon has directed a string of successes for the presenting Gangbusters Theatre Company, including “Balm in Gilead” (nominated for L.A. Weekly Awards), “Talk Radio,” and “Streamers” (which netted Shanglebee a Best Director nomination from the NAACP Theatre Awards).
Leon’s scenario for “Night of the Living Dead” has a few wrinkles of its own, including instances of non-traditional casting.
Christian Levatino produces and directs. He received an L.A. Weekly Award nomination this year as a supporting actor for his work in “Balm in Gilead.” Levatino also appears onstage in “Night of the Living Dead”….but not for long (uh-oh).
Mancini Graves, who received a Best Actor nomination from the NAACP Theatre Awards for his performance in “Streamers” two seasons ago, here portrays Ben, the truck driver who defies the hideous horde of the Living Dead. The cast also includes Sierra Fisk (as Barbara, the lovely lady to whose rescue Ben comes), Raymond Alvarez, Brian Barth, Drew Boronkay, Riley Boronkay, Sofia Boronkay, Erin Cummings, Sylvan De LaFeuille, JJ Dubon, Michael Flowers, Gloria Galvon, Missy Hairston, Matthew Heron, Trent Hopkins, Robert Hughes, Alex Knudsen, Angelica Lopez, Laura Liguori, Bob Mitsch, Samantha Pollington, Stephanie Roche, Rob Saunders, Kathryn Croy, George McCowen, Pierson Ryan, Joey Pate, Robert Downing, Owen Conway and Ashley Woods.
Kevin Ragsdale is executive producer. He recently produced the motion picture of David Mamet’s “Edmond,” starring William H. Macy.
Roger Ambrose, winner of 2 Emmy® Awards, is production designer.
Co-producers: Leroy Hoffman and Nora Nin.
Co-executive producers: Gregory Fennel, Heidi Huber, Damitrius Shoemake and Matt Mann.
Original music: David Holden.
Lighting design: Fontaine.
Sound engineer: Anthony Annatone
As with all Gangbusters productions, free beer (Karl Strauss, sponsoring brewery) is offered to (strictly) adult patrons. Levatino notes the policy doubled audience attendance.
After five well-attended and critically acclaimed seasons of “staging the modern classics with their original speed and violence,” the Gangbusters are presenting the World Premiere of a new (for the stage) work. The prolific company has established itself as one of the tightest ensemble companies in town. Following more mainstream work from writers like Mamet, Bogosian, Rabe, O’Neill and Lanford Wilson, “Night of the Living Dead” will only expand the Gangbusters’ already considerable audience.