MEET THE DEATHSCRIBE 2012 FINALISTS (part 2 of 5)

Fish are scary.

We can just agree on that.  Everything that lives underwater is terrifying.

Here in Chicago, we just know something, someday, many-tentacled, many-eyed, and flesh-hungry is going to crawl out of that big ol' lake.  Someday.

Our next 2012 Deathscribe is an award-winning dramatist who hails from the wind-chapped apocalyptic wasteland once known as "Michigan."  (Or as WildClaw founding artistic director called it, "Mitch-igan.")  Joseph has treated us to a dark tale of greed, deception, and the wickedness of nature itself.  Three men find themselves alone in a snowstorm, with only each other for company (or competition), and what may be an unknown species in the bathtub.  You're heard about the one that got away, and about the catch that was this big!, but this here ain't no ordinary FISH STORY.  This delicious creature feature is directed by Kevin Theis.

FISH STORY
Written by Joseph Zettelmaier

Directed by Kevin Theis

Joseph Zettelmaier is a Michigan-based playwright and three-time nominee for the Steinberg/American Theatre Critics Association Award for best new play, first in 2006 for All Childish Things, then in 2007 for Language Lessons and in 2010 for It Came From Mars. Other plays include Dead Man’s Shoes, And The Creek Don’t Rise, The All Childish Things Trilogy, Dr. Seward’s Dracula, First Snow, Blackwater Ballad, Night Blooming, Point of Origin, and The Stillness Between Breaths. The Stillness Between Breaths won Best New Play 2005 from the Oakland Press and was selected (as was It Came From Mars) to appear in the National New Play Network’s Festival of New Plays. He also co-authored Flyover, USA: Voices From Men of the Midwest at the Williamston Theatre (Winner of the 2009 Thespie Award for Best New Script). It Came From Mars was a recipient of 2009’s Edgerton Foundation New American Play Award, and won Best New Script 2010 from the Lansing State Journal. Dead Man’s Shoes won the Edgerton Foundation New American Play Award in 2011, and won both a Lansing Pulsar Award and Wilde Award for Best New Script. His newest script, Ebenezer, will be performed this winter at Williamston Theatre. He is an Associate Artist at Performance Network, and an adjunct lecturer at Eastern Michigan University, where he teaches Dramatic Composition. Joseph was recently profiled in the March 2012 issue of American Theatre Magazine, and can be reached at www.jzettelmaier.com.

COME HEAR 'FISH STORY' PERFORMED LIVE AT DEATHSCRIBE 2012

MONDAY DECEMBER 3RD AT THE MAYNE STAGE!

MEET THE DEATHSCRIBE 2012 FINALISTS (part 1 of 5)

Alright kids.  DEATHSCRIBE 2012 is right around the corner, ready to haunt your dreams and make you think of things like this:
 

And this:

But see the thing is, all that shit's IN YOUR MIND.  Our intrepid crews of actors, musicians, and foley artists aren't gonna show you any of this, they're going to make you see it in your own dark, lonely, twisted, terrifying imagination (we love you) through the wonders of sound.

But before any of those insane artists dive into creating such sonic scares, some asylum escapee has to think that stuff up and write it down using...I'm gonna say ichor.  Just like every year, this year's DEATHSCRIBE features the work of five sagely psychos, five tormented souls who know all too well what the world is, what it was, and what it is certain to become.  And they want to share.

Our first Deathscribe of 2012 is a fella name Brandon Zachary.  Brandon invites us to a poker game at the table of Hell, where nothing is as it seems and no one truly wins.  Is this game hosted by a demon?  Is it an insane billionaire?  Or is it AN ABSTRACT THOUGHT WITH SINISTER INTENTIONS?  Damon Kiely directs this five-card mindfuck.

I'd also like to note that Brandon is the youngest Deathscribe finalist to date.  Hear that, college students across the world?  Get to writing.  We want your nightmares.

AN ABSTRACT THOUGHT WITH SINISTER INTENTIONS
Written by Brandon Zachary

Directed by Damon Kiely

Brandon Zachary is a student at Columbia College in Chicago, currently working on a screenwriting concentration. He is a graduate of the Second City sketch writing program, and a staff writer for Ain't It Cool News. All these things combine to form a twenty one year old slacker who watches too many films.

I never got a headshot from Brandon, so I can only assume he looks like this:

COME HEAR 'AN ABSTRACT THOUGHT' PERFORMED LIVE AT DEATHSCRIBE 2012

MONDAY DECEMBER 3RD AT THE MAYNE STAGE!

Terror in the Aisles this Friday!

Deathblow Productions - Monday, Nov 19th

This looks like great fun.
 Ryan Oliver is a great filmmaker and a quality dude. I remember him talking about "Air Conditions" way back when; I'm excited to see it fully realized.
And although archival video of live theatre productions are rarely super-polished, I've been hearing about Factory Theater's "Among the Dead" for years. This show sounds off-the-wall bonkers and incredibly bad-ass.
A fantastic night of weird.

Neighborhood 3 at Strawdog

Three more chances to check out this cool show from our friends at Strawdog!

Limited 2 for 1 Tickets Available

through the weekend!

Use code THREE

when ordering online and get

two tickets for only $28!

Tickets going quickly! Click here to order now:

http://www.strawdog.org/index.php?section=history&production=neighborhood3

 

Every Thursday is Industry Night

$10 Tickets - use code word: INDUSTRY

 

Thursday, Friday and Saturday at 8pm

$28 regular, $20 seniors & $15 students

Life of Death Dramaturgical Guide

You have seven more chances to see it.  Here is a little extra info and deep thoughts sort of thing for you...also good for the school kids out there.  Bring your id to get a student discount!  Industry discounts on thursdays and sundays as well!

A Monster Rally, Trucks Optional

Carolyn Defrin, friend of the 'Claw and company member with The House Theatre (which is probably a haunted house, anyway) is one of the masterminds behind the new website The Monster Weekly, which promises to chronicle the ordinary and extraordinary lives of monsters. Every week, you will be given new insight into the world of monsters, as they live, love, share and scare, by way of original artwork and stories.

Now, ordinarily, one of the Claws could be expected to roll eyes heavenward, heave a haughty sniff, and say, "ADORABLE MONSTERS? Monsters aren't supposed to be ADORABLE."

But in this instance, I believe you will agree that we must make an exception.

Adorable.

Jack O' Turnip

From Wikipedia.org:

Jack-o'-lanterns in Kobe, Japan

Development of artifacts and symbols associated with Halloween formed over time. The turnip has traditionally been used in Ireland and Scotland at Halloween,^[38][39] but immigrants to North America used the native pumpkin, which is both much softer and much larger – making it easier to carve than a turnip.^[38] Subsequently, the mass marketing of various size pumpkins in autumn, in both the corporate and local markets, has made pumpkins universally available for this purpose. The American tradition of carving pumpkins is recorded in 1837^[40] and was originally associated with harvest time in general, not becoming specifically associated with Halloween until the mid-to-late 19th century.^[41]

The imagery of Halloween is derived from many sources, including national customs, works of Gothic and horror literature (such as the novels Frankenstein and Dracula) and classic horror films (such as Frankenstein and The Mummy).^[42] One of the earliest works on the subject of Halloween is from Scottish poet John Mayne, who, in 1780, made note of pranks at Halloween; "What fearfu' pranks ensue!", as well as the supernatural associated with the night, "Bogies" (ghosts), influencing Robert Burns' Halloween 1785.^[43] Elements of the autumn season, such as pumpkins, corn husks and scarecrows, are also prevalent. Homes are often decorated with these types of symbols around Halloween.

Halloween imagery includes themes of death, evil, the occult, and mythical monsters.^[44] Black and orange are the holiday's traditional colors.

The Celtic traditional or American update: both are damn tasty.

WildClaw's Weird, Grandma!

WildClaw is proud to present a One-Night-Only unholy alliance with Chicago institution Barrel of Monkeys.

Barrel of Monkeys uses theatre, dance, spectacle and comedy to present creative writing from CPS elementary students as original sketches and songs.

Tonight, WildClaw joins BOM as special guests in their cross-cultural and cross-community extravaganza, Chicago's Weird, Grandma!

WildClaw company members and some extended family will be putting their own devilish spin on an Untitled piece by Francisco V from the Loyola Park After School Program, which shows what happens when a zombie horde meets Kid's Best Friend.

SEE Casey Cunningham as a young girl who laughs in the face of bedtime!
SEE Michaela Petro as the most loyal pet a kid could ever hope to have in a zombie apocalypse!
SEE Dave Skvarla as the leader of the zombie horde!
SEE Moira Begale as the ambassador from beyond the stars!
SEE Mandy Walsh as a mom who knows how to keep her family safe!
SEE Ele Matelan in jeans and a t-shirt!

Say “Rombies!” at the Box Office for discounted tickets.

Anderson Lawfer talks Pontypool! Opening October 13th at Strawdog Hugen Hall

Why Pontypool Is Important To Me
By Anderson Lawfer

I love Zombie Movies. Love em. I love the idea of different races, ages, socioeconomic
statuses of people banding together to battle a common enemy. Sort of like Star Trek! I
love the use of found objects as weapons. I love how easy zombies die. I love the fact the
no one in a zombie movie has ever seen a zombie movie. I love the inescapable end all
characters face. They may live through the movie, but you know where they are headed.

The compass has only one direction. This is a real life truth, as well.

But, my favorite part of every zombie movie is the first 25 minutes. When the disease
starts in a small place, possibly spread by a corporation, or the Government. Maybe it
started on a farm! Maybe it is from Aliens! It never really matters where it starts, and the
good ones never let us know, because our protagonists do not know.

What excites me is the speculation, paranoia, and confusion.

It’ is a theme I find myself being drawn to in most of my favorite pieces of work. Kafka’s
The Trial was my first experience as a young adult with this theme. Why is Joseph K.
being arrested? WHAT THE FUCK IS GOING OOOOON?!

In zombie flicks as in Real Life we are, more often than not, not given the information we
need to make a proper decision. We have to rely on information from news channels and
friends, tweets and text messages.

Do you remember the morning of September 11th? We all turned on the news expecting
them to have the answers, but nobody had any answers. All we knew was that some shit
went down that was going to change everything. It took us a good 8 excruciating hours
to have ANY actual information, but during those 8 hours, it was an endless stream of
theories and designs we made in our brains that meant nothing and almost none of those
ideas ended up being the real answer.

So to me, Pontypool is the perfect piece. It is the clearest horror allegory for the world
we live in now. No answers, only a relentless storm of horrifying information with no
discernment.

The War Of The Worlds on crack.

To me, there is nothing scarier.

-Anderson Lawfer

Get more info and tickets here!