Back from a long quest across the country details of which and break downs of the preparedness of the cities I visited will follow shortly once I am actually home. For now I am visiting my final city of the trip.
It only makes sense with my involvement in theatre and the zombie survivor community that I should pay attention to what is happening around the country in the way of zombie related theatre. So I bring to you, follow survivors, a series on shows across the country which with zombie content.
It is also my great pleasure to start this off with an interview with the man behind one of these shows, Notes from a Zombie Apocalypse. Written by Brian Trimboli and Megan Moriarty, this show is produced and directed by Edmonton's own, Jamie Cavanagh.
I was at a preview showing of Notes from a Zombie Apocalypse a couple months ago and I'll share my thoughts before I get into the interview with Jamie. And those thoughts are very positive. As Jamie will goes on more about in the interview, the show doesn't deal with issues like, 'how many beans are left?' or 'what type of gun is going to blow a zombie apart the best?' This show deals with a subject I believe will kill many of today's would be badass survivors, loneliness. Wishing to see loved ones from before. The willpower and drive to actually live without human contact. I challenge anyone to go a week or even a day with zero human contact. Most people cannot do it, and they often only manage due if they have well prepared for the event. In this respect I believe the show brings up very valid points about having to prepare oneself mentally and emotionally as well as stockpiling and having a good plan.
The poems themselves are written quite well when taking into consideration things like zombies slowing in the cold, people heading either North or South for various reasons. The effects of loneliness, the despair of possibly having to kill the only other human being you've seen in months. The response by scientists and military. While the specific logistics of how to rebuild a town and supply it with power and food are not discussed that is not the point. Look to practical experience and training to find the skills required for those and many stories, films and plays make the mistake of going into these details when the author does not know himself truly how to do it. Not to mention the extreme circumstances that will be facing all survivors.
The play also does not focus on the zombies, as with most good zombie related material; the struggle is about people and having to live with themselves as well as dealing with the ever present threat.
Finally I'd just like to take a quick moment to look at the play from a theatrical point. This was just a preview/workshop for the piece but it has a great amount of potential. It's a short piece, running about 35 minutes, and as such not even long enough to loose interest. It was so easy to get lost in the well formed words and world of the two actors.
So the interview:
ZLC: I understand this show was written based on poems from a writer in America. Where did you find his poetry in the first place and decide to turn it into a show?
Jamie: The origins a bit of a story. I had an open Fringe spot, my previous show had fallen through. Evan and Perry expressed an interest and asked me to direct them in a show. The pieces were actually discovered by Evan and Perry via a mutual friend of ours, Elena Belyea. She has spent pieces of her last few summers teaching poetry writing in the states, and she has come to be very close friends with Brian Trimboli and Megan Moriarty through the camp she works at. She showed them to Evan and Perry, they presented them to me, I fell in love with them, and here we are.
ZLC: I know you are a bit of a comic book fan. Will that have any influence on the piece and how it's staged?
Jamie: It’s funny that you ask, because the blocking of the show is going to be completely comic book based. It’s a short show, and the words are the most important part. For that reason, we are going to work with a really image based style with little to no movement while speaking. Attempting for live-action comic book frames.
ZLC: In the preview of the show, their wasn't much attention to statistical details, like ammo count or exact locations. But there was a lot of other, more personal, details given. Could you give us your thoughts on that aspect?
Jamie: Well here’s my take. I’ve always thought of poetry as the truest way to communicate. You skip the detail and the extra, and jump straight into the heart. Honestly I don’t care how much ammo they have, where they are getting it, or where exactly they are in the United States. I believe that for the story we are telling, it is simply unimportant. What is important is the imagery they paint. They describe not where they are but what is around them, what they see, and how they feel about it. Likewise they don’t talk about the ammo or where they got it. They talk about how it feels to have to kill another person for their own survival. That is a much more interesting and loaded show to watch.
ZLC: What would you say the theme of this show is?
Jamie: I would say that the main theme in the show is isolation. Ultimately it is about two brothers separated and wanting the company of the other. Morgan [Evan’s character] references the fact that he is claustrophobic. His claustrophobia becomes an issue for him not because he is caught in small compact spaces, but rather he is all alone in a big empty world. An unfavourable situation he has no control of. He is trapped like a plant in a pot.
ZLC: Now do the two brothers ever find some sort of solice or come to an ending, or do the letters just sort of stop at some point?
Jamie: I don’t want to give away the ending for those who are planning to see it.
ZLC: What survival lessons do you think would come out of watching this show?
Jamie: Well, I’ll say this. When confronted with the problem of a zombie apocalypse, many people have their ‘survival plans’. They know where they are going to get their equipment, they know how they’re going to escape, and they know where they will start anew. Not many people plan for the solitude. My favourite visual artist Banksy has an amazing quote “There are so many people willing to suffer for their art, and so few willing to learn to draw.” Similarly, in this regard, there are so many people willing live a lone wolf, Road Warrior-esque lifestyle, while they chat with their friends in bars about life after the apocalypse; but when their friends aren’t there, when their family isn’t there, when strangers, and cars, and animals aren’t there, when they are all alone with their tents and guns and industrial cans of baked beans what would they give to see another face, familiar or otherwise? Is the life you’re fighting for worth anything when you cannot share it?
ZLC: What sort of things have you learned while putting this piece together (zombie related or otherwise)?
Jamie: Well I have acted in dozens of shows in my life, however I have never directed a show, so this whole experience of directing is new and exciting for me. I’m just piecing it together based on directors I respect and enjoyed working with. So far it’s going well.
ZLC: Now honestly, which brother do you think stands a better chance of survival?
Jamie: Brian [played by Perry] is the older of the two brothers. While Morgan’s disposition is that of regret, wanting to go back to a happier time, Brian’s goal seems to be to move forward. To fix the broken world in which he lives. Because of this outlook he encounters groups of people along the way, and takes a leadership role in the group as well as his own life. In a realist situation, I subjectively would pick Brian to fare better.
There you have it, Notes from a Zombie Apocalypse. Directed by Jamie Cavanagh, starring Evan Hall and Perry Gratton, definately worth looking for it, to both the seasoned survivor and the newly interested, at the Edmonton Fringe festival later this month!
Stay vigilant, may the infection never reach you, and those close to you have the resolve to do what is needed should you be so unfortunate, Mike D.
