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There's just something immensely satisfying about watching hot women kick some zombie ass.
This fact proves to be both a blessing and a curse for Living Dead In Deadmark, currently being staged by Rorschach Theater Company as the group's season closer. The play can be raucously funny, but occasionally veers into a self-satisfied territory that substitutes camp for cleverness.
Luckily, these moments don't dominate Denmark, which can draw more laughs out of a James Bond parody than many plays can do with a wholly original script. Take a handful of Shakespearean heroines, throw in the aforementioned zombies, add some fun allusions and a whole lot of eerily Joss Whedon-esque dialogue, and you've got the general tone of the play. The fate of the world is at stake, and super humans are battling the undead for the prize - with the Bard's creations straddling both sides of the contest.
Playwright Qui Nguyen's dialogue is peppered with a whole lot of asides and a whole lot of swearing. The script teeters between sincerely funny moments (a well-placed reference to Doogie Howser), clever allusions (the Zombie Lord's weak attempts to capture the same eeriness as Hamlet's Ghost) and unfortunately awkward conceits (Puck as gangsta, though convincingly embodied by Sarah Taurchini, gets old almost immediately). Nguyen seems to find his stride in the play's second act, when the work moves along much more briskly and satisfyingly (with the aforementioned Bond parody providing the catalyst).
Living Dead In Denmark could stand to lose its infrequent musical numbers (or at least find an Ophelia who can carry a tune better than Amy Quiggins, whose impressive athleticism is her main asset). But Rorschach more often than not brings out the play's potential, choreographing some elegant, if slower-paced, sword fights (most energizing when the show's two scene-stealers, Tony Bullock's Zombie Lord and Ben Cunis' delightfully preening Fortinbras, face off) and doing some wickedly fine work with gushing blood. The play's bad-ass incarnations of Juliet (Megan Reichelt) and Lady M (Katie Atkinson) have a solid rapport. Adrienne Nelson gives a smart, self-effacing performance as a proud but conflicted Titiana, while Andres Tolero proves a game straight man as Horatio.
The exuberance of the cast and the zany subject matter make it easy to overlook the flaws of Living Dead and Denmark and just sit back and enjoy the brain chomping. It's just frustrating that doing so feels like we're letting Nguyen coast by on a little less wit than should be required.
Living Dead in Denmark runs through Aug. 23 at The Gonda Theatre on the Georgetown campus. Tickets are available online.
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Hm. I guess this isn't the end of zombie Shakespeare.
"To the book depository!"
Hahaha Christ, I very nearly choked on my non-alcoholic, totally work-appropriate beverage when I read that. Time to crack out the Season 4 DVDs when I get home.
"You killed the zombie Flanders!"
"He was a zombie?"
Immensely satisfying, that is, In my Pants!
With all of the alleged activity going on in there, how do you find the space?
A scheduling system.
Can you fit me on Friday?
Ah. LED signs re track delays?
Yes, I can fit in you Friday.
Being eaten by any zombie can not be described as fun or sexy unless you take out the flesh eating part. If it's consensual eating?
I'm all for it.
who's that woman biting bono's hand in that photograph?