Halloween Comes Early to Honolulu — JANE AUSTEN ZOMBIE APOCALYPSE at AMG

by Guest Contributor

Becky McGarvey

There was a large turnout at the ARTS at Marks Garage this past Thursday. Although the art exhibit (pottery by local artists) was beautiful and would have drawn a crowd on its own, this particular crowd was excited to be the first to see a special preview performance of On The Spot's Jane Austen Zombie Apocalypse, which turned out to be the best play I've seen all year.

[Photo taken from Jedi M. Aster's Facebook album]

Jane Austen Zombie Apocalypse is exactly what it sounds like. But instead of just being yet another play/book/movie to rent space in the recent popular zombie trend, Zombie Apocalypse is a very well-written, well-acted, well-done production that has what so many popular plays/books/movies are missing these days—a good story.

The play follows main character Katherine Montgomery­—played by Lisa Anne Nilsen—a strong young woman who likes to play with pistols and rapiers. All of England is beset by zombies and while the men go to the front lines to fight the invasion, Katherine Montgomery and her family continue to try and live life as normally as possible, worrying over future husbands and inheritances.

Writer/Director Garrick Paikai uses his comedic timing to lure the audience into a sense of security, employing familiar Jane Austin quotes and basing his characters on her famous characters. Just when you start to think it's too much like a book you were forced to read in high school, and later forced to watch with your girlfriend when it became a movie, the director takes you in a completely different direction and keeps true to the unique story of these characters. The tale is rich with twists and turns, and although the characters are based on characters that have been written before, they are all endearing, funny, and captivating in their own right. The actors play them with such conviction that they are creatively special. Each one has moments throughout the play where they are spot-lit with brilliance and the actors move their audience from broken ribs to broken hearts.

Nilsen is a formidable heroine. With a great emotional range and impressive stage fighting skills, she suspends belief and gives rightful respect to Tony Pisculli's fight choreography, which cannot be easy in such a small performance space. Alice and Mrs. Montgomery, played by Britni “Lolli” Keltz and Alissa Joy Lee, are incredibly endearing and add a nice sparkly contrast to Katherine's stronger character, and they know how to charm an audience.

Equally charming are the men, from brooding and handsome to lovesick and silly; it is rare to see a work with a large and satisfying male cast. Edward Fallon and his associate John Radcliffe, played by JEDI and Dezmond Gilla, are the perfect English gentlemen; at times we forget we're in Hawai‘i. Sweet George Price, played by stage veteran Stu Hirayama, is consistent from his first entrance as a poor man with a heart of 24k gold. Guest Contributor to our own Enter Offstage, Marcus Lee is perfectly ridiculous as George Elliot: a self-important, pompous creep. Yet you don't have much time to dislike him while you're laughing.

The true comedic stars, however, are Mr. Simon and Mr. Frost, two cockney elements that trick your mind even further into believing we're all sitting in zombie-infested England. Played by Jose R. Ver and Jose Dynamite, this duo plays with the audience, alluding to the fact they're in a play, offering little comedic escapes from the zombies, and also providing explanations for holes in the story that the writer openly and proudly pokes fun at.

This is still very much a play about a zombie apocalypse. Alissa Joy Lee, as the make-up artist for the zombies, creates truly horrifying creatures. Although the zombies have no speaking parts, they are unbelievably scary and have no qualms about getting too close to an audience member, and grabbing them. A creepy soundtrack by sound designer R Kevin Garcia Doyle and composer Art Koshi, combined with a fog machine, are in no way helpful. It is advised you see this play with someone who is not squeamish, or who won't mind if the squeamish ones hold their hand a little too tightly.

This is very much a players' play: from melting the fourth wall to clever blocking to the transformation of the single set, if you are a theatre person you are in for a tasty treat. Not to say that non-theatre people won’t appreciate the comedy or the references, but they may not understand how really impressively clever some of them are. There are hidden elements of improv that are only revealed through a directors note in the program, and the technical crew turning red from trying not to laugh.

Whether you're an avid Jane Austen fan or an avid zombie fan, go see Jane Austen Zombie Apocalypse this or next weekend. You will be bitten and mutate into an avid theatre fan. As an original work, if you do not leave the theatre scared or hurting from laughing, you will, at least, be impressed.

[Two weekends only; 8:00pm on June 22-23 & 28-30 and on June 23 and July 1 at 4:00pm at The ARTS at Marks Garage. Tickets are $20 general and $15 for students. Sunday matinee shows are $15.]