Zombies in 1599: Land of the Dead

Ground Zero Theatre and Hit & Myth Productions are two of my favorite theatre companies I've come across and recently they did a production called, "Land of the Dead." And I was lucky enough to catch a preview performance of the show.

"Land of the Dead" was an interesting play that definitely picked up speed as it went on. The first act had the major issue of simply containing too much exposition. The same problem many people who try to approach zombies as entertainment run into, treating the audience as if they know nothing about zombies but still trying to be vague and mysterious. Any successful venture into the realm of the undead has to realize that unless they are doing something new, or at least out of the norm, the audience knows more about the topic than the film (or in this case play) does. For example, a lot of time was spent discussing how the process spreads and in the end the characters still seemed a little unsure and thus the story lagged on until one character simply forced everyone else to accept that those bitten were infected and those who weren't were not. There was also a lot of exploration into Ye Olde England and religious politics at the time that was quite unneeded and not beneficial to the plot. The first time we see the undead and the characters fight them it is with below average stage combat and the zombies are killed by simply cutting them down as would any normal human mob... except sometimes it doesn't work... zombies only die if it's convenient for the plot and even if ripped to shreds will come back to life at the most predictable moments. But that is only the first act...

Suddenly in the second act it is as if watching a different play. Exposition is thrown to the way side and we are given what was promised, Shakespeare and zombies! There is well performed stage fighting, zombie hordes, a plethora of clever Shakespearian jokes and the plot finally progresses as the characters reach some real development. The zombies are still inconsistent and apparently can be confused by jingling bells, pretending to be a zombie yourself or Michael Jackson music. But over all the second act is the bloody, funny entertainment I've grown to love and expect from this company.

Even though the first act is a little rough, I highly recommend this show to anyone in the Calgary area!

Land of the Dead

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.