Unlike the troupe's previous performance, an adaptation of H.P. Lovecraft's The Dreams in the Witch House, The Revenants features a small cast and takes place in an alternate present where the zombie apocalypse rages. Things start with a bang as a car crashes and shakes the walls of an anonymous house. Gary & Karen take refuge in the basement. With them are their spouses, Joe & Molly, who have received the zombie touch and are now to be counted among the living dead. Not quite sure what to do, Gary & Karen tie their loved ones to a pipe which gives them room to roam yet restrains their flesh-eating madness.
The set was nicely done – a basement with framing on the walls, the typical armament of tools, and some nice touches like an Easy Rider poster and a Bozo the Clown punching bag. It was suitably cramped yet large enough for the living to stay out of the clutches of the undead. Both the lighting and the sound were rather austere but they served the purpose of creating mood and letting the actors retain center stage. The make-up was quite good with some wonderful bites taken out of the flesh and appropriately pale, blood-stained zombification. Lastly, the acting was similarly great with Laura Hooper's ability to stare bug-eyed without blinking for an inordinately long period of time being particularly impressive.
Most zombie stories have people running away from them. The Revenants, however, reverses this with the characters keeping them around and, at times, actually running towards the zombies, if not physically, then emotionally. Gary has seemingly let go of Molly and makes his affection for Karen known to her. While Karen's head understands that her husband is, for all intents and purposes, gone, her heart is unable to let go as what remains of him stands but a few feet away staring and growling. What is really left of Joe & Molly? At times they lunge after some tasty flesh while at others they seem to react as if they were jealous. My seat in the second row afforded me a great view in one part where Gary & Karen are standing opposite one another rather closely. Between their heads there was just enough space to see Molly's face, her eyes open wide and readying for a jealous rage to spew forth.
The zombies here are both the recipients of Gary & Karen's anger and anguish as well as mirrors for them. The living can heap invective on the undead about their relationships but there's nothing a zombie can do to atone. Instead they only groan and lunge at their dinner. Similarly, the memories of Joe & Molly haunt the survivors but all they can do is whip up sound and fury. Ultimately Gary & Karen prove unable to let go and all parties, all relationships hit a (ahem) dead end.
The Revenants was a nice break from the more traditional horror that WildClaw has done thus far. My only quibble was how the zombies were focused upon. The first half seemed to give Joe the spotlight with the second half belonging to Molly. This seemed especially apparent in the latter part of the show when Joe spent most of his time lingering in the shadow at the back of the stage. I wish that there wasn't this kind of rotation and that some way would have been found to keep both at the forefront more often. But this is a minor offense and distract me from enjoying myself.
Sunday's was the last performance of The Revenants. Next up on WildClaw's docket is Deathscribe 2009, live performances of horror radio plays. Look for it this autumn.
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