From the wickedly wicked creative mind of Eric Woolfe comes ZOMBOCALYPSE!, a hilarious throwback to the 80s, filled with big hair, bright pastel clothing, and John Hughes’ films. Grotesquely gore-filled, the play never takes itself seriously, thanks to its hilarious throwback staging.
Complete admiration and amazement for Eldritch Theatre and its ability to suggest the vastness of a school setting within the intimate environment of Toronto’s Red Sandcastle Theatre in Leslieville. Designer Melanie McNeill creates a cartoony-like foyer of painted lockers on the stage right wall. Aidan Ware’s lighting design remains uber cool throughout, from shadowy dimness to tricolour fluorescent lighting effects. Each time I attend an Eldritch production, I’m keenly interested in Eric Woolfe’s newest puppet creations, and he doesn’t disappoint. There’s one moment when a spectacular visual effect behind a curtained scrim, showing the sheer magnitude and volume of these zombie puppets, works well.
Deftly directed by Eric Waugh, with an insatiable appetite for the bizarre, the weird, and the delectable wordplay of Eric Woolfe’s demented creation, ZOMBOCALYPSE! takes John Hughes’ ’80s coming-of-age film, The Breakfast Club, and ghoulifies five stereotypical teenage tropes trapped in a school cafeteria during a full-fledged zombie attack.
The performers are having one hell of a good time in a story that sometimes goes way over the top, but that’s okay. These fine performers make me like every single one of them for their spoofed goofiness. There’s green-haired stoner Anderson (Craig Lauzon), pink golf-t-shirted, baggy-panted prep boy Cooper (Woolfe), perky popular princess Kiki (Jeanie Calleja), tight-panted rocker Sharon (Kimwum Perehinec), and nerdy loner Liza in a baggy sweater (Lisa Norton). The show’s pacing moves quickly, and kudos to Stage Manager Sandi Becker for ensuring that everything from actor placement to lighting calls and special effects runs smoothly.
Lauzon, Calleja, Woolfe, Perehinec and Goodman are a charismatic, appealing ensemble of players, likable for poking fun at their Breakfast Club counterparts’ ghastliness. At one point, the five take on the dance the actors perform in the film, and it’s a riot because it immediately brings me back to the first time I saw the film.
ZOMBOCALYPSE! is just so damn much fun to experience live.
What are you waiting for?
Tickets can be purchased at https://eldritchtheatre.ca/tickets/
To sweeten the deal, I received the following email this morning: Eldritch will offer 50% off tickets for Friday, May 8’s performance. It’s called VISCERA VENDRENDI (or Gore-Filled Friday). Just use the discount code VISCERA when you purchase your tickets.
Again, what are you waiting for? Go purchase tickets now.
Running time: approximately 90 minutes with no intermission.
The production runs to May 10 at Toronto’s Red Sandcastle Theatre, 922 Queen Street East, Toronto. For general inquiries: info@eldritchtheatre.ca
ELDRITCH THEATRE presents
ZOMBOCALYPSE! Created by Eric Woolfe
Directed by Eric Waugh
Designed by Melanie McNeill
Lighting Design: Aidan Ware
Sounds and Puppets: Eric Woolfe
Associate Designer: JB Nelles
Performers: Craig Lauzon, Jeanie Calleja, Lisa Norton, Kimwun Perehinec and Eric Woolfe
