When brothers Tobias and Steve learn that their mother was patient zero in a world now possessed of flesh-eating zombies, they are forced to patch their differences whilst caring for her and fending-off the seemingly endless onslaught from those outside wanting to get in.…At least this is the premise espoused in the blurb accompanying the play which is currently enjoying a short run at the Pleasance Theatre, having previously been cancelled along with the rest of the VAULT Festival due to the all-defeating pandemic lockdown.
Irrespective of the blurb, (which is now perhaps a tad misleading as the original material has clearly been developed), this is one of those mad-cap, zany, hysterical and somewhat studenty efforts which you’ll either love or hate and which will be the launchpad for several stellar careers or sink everyone involved in it before the wetness behind their ears has had a chance to evaporate. This reviewer would at least like to hold-out some cause for optimism.
Firstly, given the small playing area — much of which is encroached by audience members’ legs — the choreographed acrobatics of the several zombie fight sequences were exceptionally well realised and must have been the origin of many bumps and bruises during rehearsal, so hats-off to everyone for the copious effort and commitment which has been put into this element. Also, thank heavens the onstage participants valiantly attempted to develop actual characterisations for their parts — particularly difficult if as a zombie mum, (Margherita Deri) your only lines are gurgles and growls of frustration as you attempt to devour a bowl of mashed potato for most of the play, or a little girl (Julia Bird - also doubling as a make-up artist) who is so irritatingly Violet Elizabeth Bott, that you cannot wait for her to be devoured. The brothers who differ in age, looks and outlook are played by actors whose approach to the piece seems also to have diverged at some point, leaving one in a John Waters movie and the other in an Alan Ayckbourn farce. Bizarrely it seems to work - if only because the general premise is so whack to begin with, that as an audience member your tongue is firmly in your cheek from the get go.
Co-writer Daniel Kettle as the younger brother Tobias is SO unashamedly absurd, that even his accent floats somewhere on the edge of the fringe (Ontario borders perhaps?) and it is his earnest woke naïveté which triggers irritations and conflict with his older, handsome brother Steve Sebastian Gardner (the other half of the writing team) who has to act as protector since paternal abandonment whilst also coming to terms with his own sexual awakening as an adolescent. Cue feisty Barbie doll lookee-likee Marysa Finnie (who also directs the production) who blags and cajoles her way through the front door and into Steve’s post-pubescent fantasies, whilst having something of an LA therapist’s chair meltdown about her flesh-hungry sister.
The more I think about it, the less I want to write. By now you will know if this is for you or not. Go or don’t go. Your call. I am not responsible! Good luck and if anyone bites you, seek medical help immediately.
