horror Tag Archive

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June 15, 2014 • film production

Writer Vs Tree

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Here’s the first clip of a new short film I did some work on earlier this year.

It’s called Tobias and The Tree and it’s written and directed by the very talented Fergal Costello. It’s described as: The strange tale about a man, and the tree that wants him dead.

I play the lead character Tobias, a writer who travels to a remote country getaway to write his new novel but ends up in a deadly feud with, yes, a tree. It’s a really sweet comedy/horror hybrid and it was probably the best fun I’ve had making a film. Definitely the best fun I’ve had going one on one with a tree anyway.

Here’s the first clip from it:

Tobias and The Tree Clip – “Knock Knock” from Fergal Costello on Vimeo.

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March 22, 2013 • devious theatre

Living Dead Revisited

I spent the bulk of my time last year working on the Irish stage premiere of Night Of The Living Dead for Devious Theatre. It had been a few years since we had done a ‘marquee’ play and our own take on Romero’s zombie horror fest was something that we had put into the works back in 2009. Sometimes you just need to do a big crowd pleasing comic horror, y’know? (See also, Cannibal! The Musical in 2007).

During In The Future When All’s Well in 2011, myself and Connie Walsh started writing it and then last year it all came together. Getting to co-write and direct the show was too much fun and the team we put together were fantastic. All in all, it was exactly the big zombie play set I always wanted to fool around with. I would have loved more performance time for the show as I think it could have really clicked but with only 5 nights to play with, we made a bloody glorious mess with what we had. In the end, it is by far the biggest hit show Devious Theatre have ever done and more people came to see it than anything we’ve done before… which was nice.

In the past few weeks, we’ve managed to release some new material from the show. Ken McGuire cut together a really nice look at some of the show highlights which you can see above. Ross Costigan has also released some new photos from the show, including the above photo of myself in cameo zombie mode, and you can check them out here.

For more on the production itself, check out nightofthelivingdead.ie

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July 31, 2012 • devious theatre

The Dead Walked

Yup, the clean up was a bitch in the end.

The amount of fake blood we left in the Watergate Theatre was fairly disgusting. Then again, when you’re performing the Irish stage debut of Night Of The Living Dead you’re going to have to expect a little bit of a mess. And what a glorious mess it was. 5 nights of zombie slaying and apocalyptic destruction as our 20 strong cast hit the stage with serious force every night.

All in all, it was a blast. We got the best audiences that we’ve ever had for any of our shows to date which was a great feeling. The place was really buzzing and it was so good to see so many people enjoy a piece of theatre like that. It wasn’t to everyone’s taste but that’s par for the course with anything that mixes horror, comedy and any amount of social commentary. It was great to see that the huge promo campaign we undertook for the show paid off. After all that new content we generated, it would have been a shame if it didn’t. Actually no, it would just have sucked. But hey, someone is paying attention anyway so that’s good!

The year I spent working on this went so damn quick… it’s insane really. The post show blues on a show of this scale are going to be a right bastard. I only wish we were in a position to tour Night Of The Living Dead. I’m confident that we have a fantastic show and with the right opportunities and support we could really have an amazing piece of Irish theatre that a wide audience can see. Unfortunately, the opportunities and support aren’t in place right now and so it’s back to the drawing board with the show.If you know of any wealthy patrons who love horror plays, send ’em our way.

I’m absolutely honoured and privilged to work with such an amazing team over the past couple of months. Between the cast and crew, I really couldn’t have had a better, more dedicated hard working bunch of people to work with. Particular props must go to my co-writer Connie Walsh who busted her ass on this show for over a year and did a sterling amount of work on making this play. The girl’s got talent and I can’t wait to see what she cooks up next.

So that’s Night Of The Living Dead put to bed for the moment at least. Thanks to everyone who came, funded and supported this show. It means the world to me and to everyone in the comedy. Most of all, it lets us keep on doing what we do. Phantasm is opening up at Abhainn Rí this week so there’s definitely no rest for my wickedness.

These shows, they won’t stay dead…

Photos by Ross Costigan (I stole his zombie cameo shtick)

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July 24, 2012 • devious theatre

The Night Of The Living Dead Rises…

Devious Theatre’s production of Night Of The Living Dead opens tonight in The Watergate Theatre, Kilkenny.

It’s the culmination of a massive year’s work and I can’t get my head around how quickly it’s arrived. You always think it seems so far away but no, it always creeps up on you. Like a zombie, aptly enough. But after a long, bloody birth, our biggest, nastiest baby to date is about to hit Kilkenny’s biggest stage for the first time.

Myself and Connie Walsh spent a long time working on the script for this one. It’s been a blast getting to play with the entire history of zombie fiction and I hope we’ve written something that pays respectful homage to it. We’ve tried to write a version of the story that’s new, fresh, funny and uniquely Irish whilst also staying close to Romero’s vision of the origins of an undead apocalypse. If you’re a fan of zombie fiction I’m confident there’s a lot you’ll like about this.

The cast and crew have been powerhouses all round as we bring our vision of the end of the world to an Irish stage for the first time. A director just couldn’t ask for a better team. Most of them are majorly tired and can’t get fake blood off their clothes so it helps to keep them sweet as much as possible.

Word from the box office is that we’re nearly sold out tonight which is a massive achievement and it will be amazing to play to a near full house for our debut performance of the show. It’s been a long haul to get here but finally, the first ever Irish zombie stage play and the Irish premiere of Night Of The Living Dead is ready to rise…. we hope to see you invade.

Night Of The Living Dead runs from tonight July 24th – 28th in The Watergate Theatre, Kilkenny. Bookings can be made on 056 – 7761674 or online here. Check out www.nightofthelivingdead.ie for more details.

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July 12, 2012 • devious theatre

They Won’t Stay Dead

The final character poster for Devious Theatre’s upcoming zombie smackdown Night Of The Living Dead went online last week. Now the collection is complete! I would hope the cool, youngsters of today will flock around town trying to collect the entire set, Panini sticker collection style. But then I realise that we’ll have wasted a lot of money and advertising. 🙁

This poster introduces Ben, the main character of both the play and original film, played by Eddie Murphy. You may notice that he’s not black but Romero said that wasn’t an issue in the original and we believe him so we’re going to stick to our guns here by casting white boy Eddie. Our version of the character originally played by Duane Jones is ironically a racist, sexist, foul mouthed, pissed off unemployed construction worker. Which in itself was a really good excuse to give him some handy implements to kill people with.

The show is now 2 weeks off opening and the pressure (and hype and expectancy) is really starting to amp up. Last night we went from one physically intense sequence to another so I guess my main concern at this stage is keeping the actors alive for long enough to do the play. Fingers crossed.

Night Of The Living Dead runs from July 24th – 28th in The Watergate Theatre, Kilkenny. Check out www.nightofthelivingdead.ie for more details.

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June 20, 2012 • devious theatre

It’s Important That Families Stick Together

The newest character poster for Devious Theatre’s upcoming production of Night Of The Living Dead introduces the Cooper Family.

Played by Paul Young, Nuala Roche and Abbey Harris, they are our version of Harry, Helen and Karen Cooper, the family holed up in the basement of George A. Romero’s 1968 original. One area where we haven’t deviated in this regard, is how poorly Karen is feeling. And as you can see from this family portrait, she’s looking a little bit off. Must be the flu.

We’re a week into rehearsals at this point and it’s going really well so far. I keep having to remind myself that I’m directing an epic zombie story. It’s an absolute treat. We’re juggling it with our other new play Phantasm (more on that later) which offers a nice small appetiser to the bloody main course that is Night Of The Living Dead. Dessert will be sleep.

Night Of The Living Dead runs from July 24th – 28th in The Watergate Theatre, Kilkenny. Check out www.nightofthelivingdead.ie for more details.

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May 26, 2012 • devious theatre

Sever The Head Or Destroy The Brain

It’s all kicking off for Devious Theatre’s production of Night Of The Living Dead.

After launching the production with a character poster for Babs back in February, we’ve just released the second poster. This time it’s Tom and Judy, the teenage lovebirds of the original movie. Played by Kevin Mooney and Aoibhín Murphy, our version of the characters have a lot more attitude. They’re also very Irish. Which explains the hurl. It was very hard to write an Irish zombie movie and not use a hurl as a weapon. It’s also a pretty handy way to sever a head or destroy a brain, which as the movie tells us, is the only way to kill one of the living dead. So yeah, there’s going to be a lot of that going on.

There’s also going to be a lot more character posters. Four more to be exact. Yup, we always do overkill on the posters but if there’s anything this play requires, it’s overkill. The concept for this poster was based on imagery from Badlands, Heathers and Natural Born Killers. Essentially, iconic movies about young attractive killer couples. It definitely makes an eye grabbing poster. I just hope we’ll be allowed put it up in public!

Night Of The Living Dead runs from July 24th – 28th in The Watergate Theatre, Kilkenny.

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April 10, 2012 • devious theatre

They’re Coming To Get You Barbara!

We’ve just launched the first teaser trailer for the upcoming Devious Theatre production of Night Of The Living Dead.

It sets out the stall for our version of the story which is coming from an Irish perspective in 2012. A really bad crisis happens and it gets worse and worse and people have to flee the country and it doesn’t look too rosy for the ones who are left behind. Sound familiar, right? We’re doing dear ol’ Uncle George proud and going straight for the socio political themes that made his original movie so vital. It’s probably safe to say that the characters will swear loads and drink tea too.

The trailer also provides a look at Connie Walsh playing the part of beleaguered teen heroine Barbara. The most iconic line from the original movie gets an airing here with Stephen Colfer uttering ‘They’re coming to get you Barbara!’ He’ll be playing the part of Barbara’s brother Johnny in this production.

We’ve also launched Night Of The Living Dead.ie just for the show and all its general production chronicing so check that one out if you’re inclined to keep up with our zombie struggles.

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February 14, 2012 • devious theatre, night of the living dead

Oíche Of The Living Dead

The next Devious Theatre production is going to be the Irish stage premiere of Night Of The Living Dead.

Yup, it’s set in present day Ireland. Nope, it’s not a musical.

Also, there’s not much Gaeilge in there… but we’ve a few fluent speakers in the cast so we may well try something out. The title of this blog is me combining the title and being Irish into one absolutely non catchy sentence.

Those are the answers to the main questions we’ve been asked since we launched the play in The Watergate Theatre on Saturday night. People have been really positive about it and have asked many probing questions about how we’re going to pull off a show with such a big cast and the logistical problems of a bloody, undead siege. We give that quiet, confident look that’s a good cover for the sheer terror you feel inside. Sheer terror aside we’re really excited about it and I think it’s going to be a great show.

Angela, Ken, meself and Dave: wine drunk.

Speaking of the sheer terror you feel inside, that’s what Night Of The Living Dead is all about. It’s been on the boil for Devious Theatre for a couple of years now. We had an eye on it as a modern Irish political allegory but always had that slight worry that if we did what is ostensibly a B movie in a modern Irish setting it would just seem kinda cheap and hokey (it still might). Then back in the year of 2009 we saw Conor McPherson’s version of The Birds, which showed us exactly how you nail a classic 1960’s horror in a modern Irish milieu. We were inspired. We were confident that we could make our Night Of The Living Dead just as relevant, tense, claustrophobic and bird free. Then last year during In The Future When All’s Well, we pulled the trigger on it and it went into active development around the time we finished Scratcher.

It ticks a lot of boxes for us. It’s got the arse on seats name value that’s really important right now and also allows us to explore relevant Irish themes that interest us. With this play we’re focusing on emigration, the destruction of the family unit and fear of government with a tag line that’s straight from the mouth of our beloved leader (“You are not responsible for this crisis”). Like the original, it tells the story of a group of strangers holed up in a house after the dead begin to reanimate and attack the living. In our version, it’s set on a ghost estate in the south-east of Ireland in 2012 as opposed to a rural farmhouse in 1968 Pennsylvania. We’re confident it’s going to be fresh, relevant and still be faithful to what George Romero and his collaborators cooked up in the late 60’s.

Of course, the zombie genre has been absolutely done to death (no pun intended) but in Ireland and on the stage, we’re confident that there’s a lot of fresh meat (pun intended, yeah. Sorry). I’ve been writing it with Connie Walsh since mid 2011 and I think we’ve done a nice take on the Romero story so far. Connie’s an extremely talented writer not to mention actess, as anyone who saw her in Shifting would attest. She’ll also be playing the part of Babs, of “They’re coming to get you Barbara” fame, for her trouble. You can read about our take on the character here. Here she is in Babs mode for the first of what will be a series of character based posters from Ross Costigan and Ken McGuire. Plenty more where that came from in the next few months.

The play will be running from July 24th – 28th in The Watergate Theatre, Kilkenny. We’re mad to take it to other counties but unless people give us money or physically harass their local theatres, we’re starting off simple with it for now. I’ll be posting about it here, but for most content, keep an eye on devioustheatre.com

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September 13, 2011 • devious theatre, Theatre

So, There Was This Bash…

The next Devious Theatre production is going to be bash: latterday plays by Neil LaBute.

After the In The Future When All’s Well season we were looking forward to a nice long break. But well… we got the new premises and wanted to get some use out of it this year. Also, we’re suckers for punishment.

We’ve been looking to do something by Neil LaBute for quite some time, as we’re really big fans of his writing. So when we decided to do another production before the end of 2011, we took it as a welcome opportunity to finally stage one of his plays.

And that play is bash, one of his most controversial works. It consists of three monologues that tell seemingly normal stories from normal people but, yup, they’re anything but. Like a lot of LaBute’s stage work (The Shape Of Things, reasons to be pretty, Wrecks, Fat Pig) it takes a look at the dark impulses that drive civilised people. We’ve given it the tagline of ‘Three Horror Stories Of Everyday Evil’ which sums up our take on it. We’re doing it around Halloween time but it’s a bit of an unconventional choice of ‘horror’ material. It’s more of a gut punching, nauseating, awkward kind of experience. Way to build it up, eh? In short, it’s a fucking excellent piece of writing and we’re very excited. It’s a real departure from our trademark style of comedy so I hope we deliver with something ‘deviant’.

I’ll be acting in Iphigenia In Orem, which I’m thrilled to perform. It’s the story of a young businessman who makes a confession to a stranger in a Las Vegas bedroom. Rehearsals started last week under the sturdy hand of Ken McGuire and I’m pretty sure it’s going to preclude me from much of a social life for the next month. I’m also doing some directing myself for Medea Redux which is being performed by Annette O’Shea, and based on what she’s already showed us, it’s going to be epic. The final piece is A Gaggle Of Saints performed by Amy Dunne and Ken McGuire and directed by Annette O’Shea.

So that’s the basic info on the play. We’re going to be performing it in the intimate surroundings of Cleere’s Theatre from October 17th – 22nd. You can tickets online here. I’ll write more about it as I have more to write. I really need to go and start learning my lines.

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