I’ve recently had the pleasure of playing Dungeons and Dragons. I was hooked from my first try – fallen as its prey, I am in its clutches every week … sometimes, twice a week. So, when I saw the blurb for this show I was really excited to watch.
Back in the 1980s Dungeons and Dragons caused quite a fuss amongst the Christian community in America. A group called B.A.D.D (Bothered About Dungeons and Dragons) was set up to educate parents about the evil within D&D. Described by Evangelists as ‘the front for demonic worship and witchcraft.’ D&D became quite the controversy amongst these groups.
Carrie Marx in this production took this setting and gathered us all for an hour to warn us of the Satanic influences of Dungeon and Dragons. A script imbued with fantastic comedic moments – I often found myself laughing out loud at this comedy gold.
Carrie as Pam, a Methodist Christian was fantastic through and through. It takes a certain level of acting skill to pull off what she did; carrying a whole play by yourself whilst maintaining the energy, interest, and enthusiasm of the audience – this is an arduous task. Thus, I do congratulate her and Chris Lince, the director of B.A.D.D., for putting on such a jolly good show.
My biggest ask for Carrie Marx to consider if she does bring the show back, is for her to extend the piece for I felt 1 hour was not enough of this show, particularly when Pam begins to have a nervous breakdown, it didn’t seem to quite have the build up it required. Hilarious and a joy to watch, I was left wanting more.
“Every cast member brought a new energy to the stage”
Comedies and horrors are really challenging genres to do right and when you mix them together to create a horror-comedy there is a lot of space for it to go wrong. But, in saying that I felt ecstatic that Waking the Walking Dead was a brilliant performance. I thoroughly enjoyed this production from start to end.
Waking the Walking Dead grabbed you from the moment you entered the space. Stuart Vincent is evidently a very talented director. Vincent directed a wonderful cast and achieved a really enjoyable performance – a joy to experience.
With a colourful palette of characters, Vincent and the cast transported us into their wacky world. What was really enjoyable was that this production takes the zombie apocalypse story but brings us the characters you don’t normally see in this kind of tale.
I really loved that the protagonists were Martin; a gay maths teacher played by Steven Bush and his student played by Sarah Day. Together Steven and Sarah were a dynamic duo. From the moment Steven boldly burst through a door to enter on the stage I was sold. Both actors throughout the piece bounced off each other; in fact, the whole cast really worked as an ensemble with Joe Johnsey and Elizabeth Lloyd Raines adding their own dilemma and chaos as their characters.
Every cast member brought a new energy to the stage. Joe Johnsey as the dashing ‘military’ trickster added a fun chaotic energy to his scenes. His character was brilliantly written and performed. On the other hand, whilst I commend Elizabeth Lloyd Raines for committing and delivering a strong performance as the crazy survival girl; the writing of this character was a bit off for me. There were points which I couldn’t connect to her existing within this world. However, as the character began to become a bit less like she was on a serious episode, and became more human, I started to warm more to her.
Of course, the play’s success was aided by the simple but effective set by Francis White. We were ably to transported into this world by having a few pieces of newspaper spread throughout and a sofa centre stage. Minimalistic but it worked. Furthermore, the costume added little character moments that further immersed me into the action.
The only aspect of the performance that I felt let down the smoothness of the piece, was the blackouts between scenes. I think the writer and director should explore how they can get the play to flow without having to rely on them. With less blackouts I think it would have added an extra layer to this piece.
Nevertheless, silly, imaginative and fun, Waking the Walking Dead really tickled my feathers. Please keep making more horror-comedies as you all have a talent for it.
