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Theater review: Undead adaptation is largely lifeless

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Barbara (Kari Goetz) and Johnny (Matt Lunsford) run for their lives when zombies attack in Jobsite Theater's production of "Night of the Living Dead."

By KATHY L. GREENBERG | Tribune correspondent

Published: October 26, 2009

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Lori Allen Ohm's stage adaptation of the 1968 film "Night of the Living Dead" is all camp all the time. Not that there's anything wrong with that; rotting zombies and stupid victims who deserve to be eaten can be a lot of fun. But the problem with camp is that if it's not done well — that is, outrageously funny, gory or, preferably, both — it's just boring. Unfortunately, that's the story with Jobsite Theater's production.

Think back to the movie, if you will, and remember the unsuspecting brother and sister traipsing through a cemetery to lay a wreath on their father's grave. Johnny (Matthew Lunsford) teases Barbara (Kari Goetz) that something is coming to get her. This is called foreshadowing, a clever storytelling device that fools no one.

Then the zombies come out to play. Johnny is killed and reborn as, well, a zombie. Barbara hides in a secluded farmhouse where other non-zombie folks have already found refuge. Ben (Dayton Sinkia) takes charge of the situation, while Barbara is a basket case. Everyone scurries around with flimsy two-by-fours and iron pokers, while news flashes of monster madness dance across the television screen. Meanwhile, the daughter (Molly Jacobson) of one couple in the house (Alvin Jenkins and Caroline Jett) is rapidly transforming into — you guessed it — a zombie. One of those things bit her earlier in the evening, so she really had no chance at all, poor girl.

The horrible finish for those brave people would impress even Hamlet.

The cast provided the requisite overacted performances for the sixties classic. Danny McCarthy's special effects featured just the right amount of fake blood and rubber-hose intestines. Meanwhile, Jenn Jones' choreography made those zombies really come alive. One would think it couldn't get any better than that. And it doesn't — until the surprise end, which makes up for the previous 70 minutes.

If it weren't for the finale, Jobsite might have been bombarded with demands for refunds.

Director Chris Holcom can't take all the blame. Ohm's script is devoid of thrills and chills. There's nothing at all remarkable about it, which seems unfathomable considering how terribly interesting ghouls can be.

Jobsite deserves regular, good turnouts, so it's a hard task to condemn this particular production. Why kill a perfectly good Halloween? You'd be better off staying home watching "Attack of the Killer Tomatoes."