Imitating the Dog have a very distinctive multimedia
approach to storytelling and, in their ‘Remix’ of Night of the Living Dead,
they have taken this to another level of ingenious visual trickery.
The stage is a white box, almost bare except for a staircase
and a table of props. Above hang two projection screens and to one side, almost
in the wings, we see a technician at another table of miniature scenes, cameras
and equipment. On one of the screens George A Romero’s original 1968 film
begins to play.
Over the next two hours, the actors onstage play out the
entire movie, in a scene by scene remake, with the results of their efforts shown
on the second screen, enabling us to see the meticulous detail in the
recreation. The actors themselves operate the cameras, in between donning
various costumes to play all the parts. At times, there are two performers in
the same role, enabling cameras to intercut between different angles of a
scene.
On revisiting the original picture earlier in the day (in a
spirit of heroic research) I was reminded that it begins feeling somewhat
comedic and shoddily put together, but slowly creeps into genuine suspense and
horror. This inventive staging achieves a similar sense of Blue Peterish
shoeboxes and sticky tape in its opening scenes, as a car is seen making its
way to the cemetery. The players use a tiny model car on the end of a stick,
filming it in miniature set models with handheld cameras. This really does
raise a few laughs, lulling us into the place we need to be for the tension to
build from. Sketched backgrounds emerge and evaporate, projected onto the walls,
providing the environment for the action.
Followers of the now cult-status film point to its
undertones of social and political commentary. Directors Andrew Quick and Pete
Brooks allude to this by the insertion of some segments of historical film
footage from the time, referencing Vietnam and Martin Luther King. These appear
sometimes on the second screen, in place of images of the ghoulish scenes being
played out onstage, and at others on the walls of the set.
It is very clever stuff, and hugely entertaining to watch,
but it’s hard to say whether it entirely succeeds in delivering its message.
There are so many directions in which to look that it’s almost impossible to
take it all in, and inevitably there will be much of it that will be missed. Repeated
viewing would be the only way to see all of the intricacies of the feat.
And that is, effectively, what this is – an enormous and
daring feat of theatrical cleverness. In a way the tail is wagging the dog,
with the doing of it being the thing that makes the greatest impression.
Nonetheless, whether you focus on one aspect of it or just
let your eyes wander about the stage, there is no denying the fact that the
cast pull off a heck of a stunt. It’s a fascinating piece of work and one that
probably merits a second visit.
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| Production photography by Edward Waring |
Star Rating: Three Stars
This review was originally written for publication by Good News Liverpool
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