{"id":15055,"date":"2015-10-09T00:08:52","date_gmt":"2015-10-09T07:08:52","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.jewishindependent.ca\/?p=15055"},"modified":"2015-10-08T22:05:10","modified_gmt":"2015-10-09T05:05:10","slug":"help-save-us-from-zombies","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.jewishindependent.ca\/index.php\/2015\/10\/09\/help-save-us-from-zombies\/","title":{"rendered":"Help save us from zombies"},"content":{"rendered":"

Alien Contagion: Rise of the Zombie Syndrome<\/em> tasks audiences with finding a downed UFO that has crashed on earth. Virtual Stage\u2019s interactive adventure runs to Nov. 1. (photo from Virtual Stage<\/a>)<\/em><\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

For anyone who has dreamed of saving the world, now\u2019s your chance. All you have to do is take part in Virtual Stage\u2019s Alien Contagion: Rise of the Zombie Syndrome<\/em>, which runs until Nov. 1.<\/p>\n

Several shows have already sold out, with people keen to take on their mission. \u201cThis year, audiences are tasked to respond to a highly confidential NASA report about a downed unidentified flying object that has crashed on earth. The exact location is unknown,\u201d reads the promotional material. \u201cTo add to the mystery, the alien pilot is reportedly injured, has escaped and is hiding in Vancouver. Furthermore, every NASA official sent to locate the UFO has returned in a zombie-like state \u2026 brave and adventurous audience members must find the downed spacecraft, quell the nearby zombie uprising and, ultimately, save the human race from the brink of extinction.\u201d<\/p>\n

This is the fourth annual interactive, smartphone-enabled theatre experience produced for the Halloween season by Virtual Stage.<\/p>\n

\"photo<\/a>
Zombie Syndrome series creator Andy Thompson. (photo by Rob Gilbert)<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

\u201cThe idea originated four or five years ago after I went to the West End in London, England, to see a bunch of theatre,\u201d creator Andy Thompson told the Independent<\/em>. \u201cI saw all sorts of plays in many different styles of venues. I went to very fancy theatres. I went to small, edgy, Fringe-type theatres. I was even lucky to witness rare performances including Kevin Spacey playing Richard III, as well as the \u2018real-life\u2019 theatrical event of Rupert Murdoch getting pied in the face in the British House of Commons.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe most engaged I felt as an audience member, however, was during an interactive play called The Accomplice<\/em>. It took place on the streets of London and involved the audience being endowed as key figures in an adventure to recover stolen loot. It was so much fun! The piece was basically a crime drama, but I wondered how a horror-genre show could use a similar format. Add to the mix my interest in technology and smartphones and I quickly developed an idea for a smartphone-enabled, site-specific, roving, zombie-themed theatre adventure with audience members tasked with saving the world.\u201d<\/p>\n

Thompson said the series, which premi\u00e8red in 2012, wasn\u2019t meant be an annual event. \u201cIt was a huge creative risk \u2018one-off\u2019 event and I thought it could easily flop,\u201d he said. \u201cNeedless to say, it came as quite a pleasant surprise when the show was so well received, selling out almost shortly after we opened. People just loved it. After I realized the popular appeal, I looked at how it could be designed as an annual series that is completely new each year.\u201d<\/p>\n

This is not Thompson\u2019s first foray into science fiction. The Jewish community member\u2019s credits include \u2013 but are in no way limited to \u2013 the three previous Zombie Syndromes, SPANK!, 1984<\/em> (an adaptation of George Orwell\u2019s novel) and the sex-comedy musical Broken Sex Doll<\/em>, which featured original music by fellow Jewish community member Anton Lipovetsky, as well as episodes of TV\u2019s Fringe<\/em>.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt is so much fun to imagine the seemingly endless possibilities in the universe,\u201d said Thompson about his interest in science fiction. \u201cI often contemplate our reality on planet earth, which often feels like a far-fetched science fiction story idea. Consider: we are on a small planet, whipping through space, revolving around a star. Our star is merely one of billions of stars in the Milky Way galaxy. And, if that\u2019s not all, there are billions of galaxies in the universe. So, by my rough math, that means there are at least 1,000,000,000,000,000,000 stars in the universe. Earth and our existence seem extremely small when put into this perspective. And that\u2019s just when we look at \u2018third-dimensional\u2019 reality. I am convinced that there are tangible, intelligent realities on other vibrational frequencies that we are unaware of. Like the sound of a dog whistle, humans are just not currently attuned to be aware of them. Without a doubt, what Shakespeare said in Hamlet <\/em>is certainly true: \u2018There are more things in heaven and earth, Horatio, than are dreamt of in your philosophy.\u2019<\/p>\n

\u201cLife is pretty mind-blowing when you really think about it. Science fiction allows us to imagine the possibilities. And, half the time, because our existence is so vast, we get to explore far-fetched ideas that cannot be definitively refuted. To me, it\u2019s a great deal of fun.\u201d<\/p>\n

And a great deal of work. Alien Contagion: Rise of the Zombie Syndrome<\/em> features \u201cabout 45 performers this year, as well as about a dozen crew and designers,\u201d said Thompson. \u201cThe logistics are mind-numbing, but we have a great team and a lot of experience under our belts. We generally start planning the show a year in advance. Things progressively kick into higher gears over the spring and summer. The storylines are often collaborative. This year, my stepson Finn [Ghosh-Leudke] co-authored the story with Tyler Clarke and myself. I then wrote the script based on that story.\u201d<\/p>\n

The show is fully wheelchair accessible. However, it is rated PG-13 because of the subject matter, and children under 13 must be accompanied by a parent or guardian. For tickets and more information, visit thevirtualstage.org\/tickets<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Alien Contagion: Rise of the Zombie Syndrome tasks audiences with finding a downed UFO that has crashed on earth. Virtual Stage\u2019s interactive adventure runs to Nov. 1. (photo from Virtual Stage) For anyone who has dreamed of saving the world, now\u2019s your chance. All you have to do is take part in Virtual Stage\u2019s Alien […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":15035,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[785],"tags":[4622,2432,2433,4623],"class_list":["post-15055","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-performing-arts","tag-aliens","tag-andy-thompson","tag-virtual-stage","tag-zombies"],"blocksy_meta":{"styles_descriptor":{"styles":{"desktop":"","tablet":"","mobile":""},"google_fonts":[],"version":8}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.jewishindependent.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/15055","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.jewishindependent.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.jewishindependent.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.jewishindependent.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.jewishindependent.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=15055"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.jewishindependent.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/15055\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.jewishindependent.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/15035"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.jewishindependent.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=15055"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.jewishindependent.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=15055"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.jewishindependent.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=15055"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}