Zombies at the Fringe

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.

Interview with the internet's top zombie forum's leader

Well survivors I think it is valuable to stick together, nay it is invaluable. So here is an interview with a man who leads one of, if not, largest zombie survival forums on the internet. Mister Whaturmuva (Matt)

ZLC: What inspired you to start this forum?
Whaturmuva: My interest in what people would do during a ZPAW. It's just a hypothetical, but I enjoy examining human nature.

ZLC: How much work do you put into the forum to keep it in it's top ranking?
Whaturmuva: Next to none at this point. I know how to work the search engines well enough that I have gotten every site I have made to the top of google.

ZLC: Do you have a large team of admin to help you? If so have you actually met any of them or just online?
Whaturmuva: Nope, just me and one moderator. Have not met in real life but he seems like a pretty good guy. Overall the forum is fairly spam free and the members are all really great.

ZLC: There are lots of forums out there about zombies. What makes your's as awesome as it is?
Whaturmuva: It seems to be the largest of the very few that looks at zombies as a true possibility. Most just write them off and in every thread there is the "zombies can never exist" posters. Here we don't allow that type of behavior. To make it here one needs to expand their mind and really examine what is possible.

ZLC: Have you been Admin on any other forums?
Whaturmuva: Yes, I've made a variety of forums all which have gained a lot of popularity and high google rankings. I actually had another top zombie forum in the past but had to sell it due to life circumstances. The new owner seemed to have no passion for the site and it died just a few months later.

ZLC: So you're also running a zombie roleplay site. Do you have any experience with roleplaying games or play-by-post?
Whaturmuva: Can't say that I do. I created it for a member of the main forum and he had problems. Meanwhile the site got to the top of google but had no direction. Recently I have picked up a few users to start building it and I expect it to thrive very soon.

ZLC: There's also the zombie blog. How's the format for that site work? With multiple people contributing to it.
Whaturmuva: It really doesn't, the blog is fairly dead as I can't find anyone to contribute to it. I'd gladly let someone take it over if they want it but I haven't been able to find anyone who does. It's "Bloggers Wanted" is actually in my forum signature at all times

ZLC: Favorite zombie film and why?
Whaturmuva: Land of the Dead. It shows how humanity would survive in times after the world was already filled with zombies.

ZLC: Why a zombie forum and not a forum about something else awesome?
Whaturmuva: To make a forum thrive the admin must have interest in the subject. Zombies have held my interest for a long time and it just was a natural choice to go back to.

ZLC: Are you a true believer?
Whaturmuva: I don't believe there are any zombies on this planet at the moment. But I know this universe is ever expanding and we don't know a ton about it. I think it's a possibility just like anything else.

There you have. A true leader who believes all it takes is passion, knowledge and good people to get the job done.

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.

Interview with Zombie film maker

The first film I reviewed as training material was the indie flick, Day Zero, by Mathew and Marshall Khalil. Well I managed to have interview with one of the brothers and ask him a few questions about the film. Note that this does contain information about the film so if you are going to whine about spoilers don't read it until after you've watched it. So here for you is Mathew Khalil, zombie film maker!


ZLC: What inspired you to write this script?
Mathew: Our inspiration for writing the script was our need for a zombie television series. Day Zero was supposed to be a pilot but was later turned into a movie after we found out that The Walking Dead was coming out.

ZLC: Where did the idea for the infection by breath come from?
Mathew: We loved in 28 Days Later how the infected vomited blood onto people and then they became infected. We tried to come up with something that was a unique way to become infected and the "smog" breath is what we had come up with.

ZLC: How does the smog infection actually work?
Mathew: The Virus is supposed to be airborne. After the comet hit earth a gas was released, turning people into zombies. Anyone who gets the virus from that point on can spread the virus through a traditional bite or through their ability to expel smog breath.

ZLC: At one point zombies ring a doorbell... explain please?
Mathew: The zombies ringing the door bell wasn't intended to be so literal. It was supposed to be the lumbering zombies bumping into the doorbell. Unfortunately because of time restraints we didn't have time to film that.

ZLC: There is also a point when a zombie pulls a victim from one room to another, to what end?
Mathew: I love the idea of people being dragged away by their attacker and finished off somewhere else. But the primary reason would be that the mom character was killed in the living room, and if the main character saw her on the living room floor when he came home, then he wouldn't have a reason to go to the back of the house to witness the baby being eaten.

ZLC: In your mythology obviously the infection spread quite quickly, just how much of Edmonton's population was turned in the first day and night in which the movie takes place?
Mathew: It's really unclear just how much of Edmonton had been affected but definitely a significant amount.

ZLC: Will we be seeing a sequel?
Mathew: Hmmm, a sequel? Only time will tell I guess.

ZLC: Favorite zombie film and why?
Mathew: I love all zombie films but I'd have to say "Night of The Living Dead" in color. They finally did it right and haven't quite done it as well since. Nothing beats a slow zombie, and besides, Tony Todd is the star. And he's hard as f**k.

ZLC: You've created a couple of indie films. Why zombies for this movie?
Mathew: To be completely honest, we thought that it would only be about twenty minutes or so after editing, but obviously that wasn't the case. It was kind of an accidental feature film.

ZLC: Are you a true believer?
Mathew: Do I believe in zombies? Well not really, but I do have a zombie survival kit packed and ready. Just in Case.

Top right: Mathew. Top left: Marshall. Bottom: Me!

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.