More About Zombie, the Play
Why ZOMBIE?
"Why would you want to adapt and perform in something so depressing?" well-meaning people have asked.
There's no doubt - ZOMBIE is provocative, challenging, disturbing.
So is Picasso.
Whenever a serial killer strikes - people ask, "How can this happen?"
ZOMBIE is Joyce Carol Oates' answer to the question.
She takes you deep inside the mind of serial killer.
You begin to understand how he thinks and feels. You follow his logic - it actually begins to make sense to you.
Which is horrifying. But he is human - so we recognize many of his habits and traits as our own - taken to the most extreme limits.
By the end of the play, you might even feel a little sorry for him. You might feel some empathy for a man who has done horrible things. Because he is a human being.
Even though the play is distressing, ultimately it is humanistic.
And very worthwhile doing.
--Bill Connington
nytheatre.com Interviews Bill Connington:
NYTheatre.com: What is your show about?
BC: ZOMBIE is about a Jeffrey Dahmer-esque serial killer. The most arresting thing about the character Quentin is he seems so "normal". He's almost bland, like someone you would see at the hardware store. When serial killings occur, people always ask "How could this happen?" ZOMBIE answers the question by taking you inside the mind of a sexual psychopath. It's scary because what he talks about is graphic and violent but you begin to understand what he's thinking and feeling. By the end, you might even feel a little sorry for him.
NYTheatre.com: Why is your show pertinent to today's times and/or why should your show be the choice for audiences to see?
BC: Serial killers are usually white males between the ages of 18 and 40. America has the highest number of serial killers in the world. At any given time there are 500 at large in the USA. Why is that? Just last week they solved some serial killings that went back 30 years. What happens when outwardly "normal" people snap? The play gives some insight into this question. The show is a ride through the dark side, but the drama is tempered by black humor it's certainly not like a sociology lecture!
NYTheatre.com: Why did you choose to present this show?
BC: Joyce Carol Oates--one of the greatest writers in America--plus a narcissistic sexual- predator-killer? The combination was irresistible. ZOMBIE is like a great Edgar Allen Poe story, but it's based on truth, so the horror is real. The scariest thing about the story is the serial killer's urges are so human. We've all felt some of the things he feels, but he takes things to the most terrible extremes--and acts on them. A great part of the fear is thinking, "I've sometimes felt things this killer is feeling. Is there something wrong with me? Am I like him?"
"Why would you want to adapt and perform in something so depressing?" well-meaning people have asked.
There's no doubt - ZOMBIE is provocative, challenging, disturbing.
So is Picasso.
Whenever a serial killer strikes - people ask, "How can this happen?"
ZOMBIE is Joyce Carol Oates' answer to the question.
She takes you deep inside the mind of serial killer.
You begin to understand how he thinks and feels. You follow his logic - it actually begins to make sense to you.
Which is horrifying. But he is human - so we recognize many of his habits and traits as our own - taken to the most extreme limits.
By the end of the play, you might even feel a little sorry for him. You might feel some empathy for a man who has done horrible things. Because he is a human being.
Even though the play is distressing, ultimately it is humanistic.
And very worthwhile doing.
--Bill Connington
nytheatre.com Interviews Bill Connington:
NYTheatre.com: What is your show about?
BC: ZOMBIE is about a Jeffrey Dahmer-esque serial killer. The most arresting thing about the character Quentin is he seems so "normal". He's almost bland, like someone you would see at the hardware store. When serial killings occur, people always ask "How could this happen?" ZOMBIE answers the question by taking you inside the mind of a sexual psychopath. It's scary because what he talks about is graphic and violent but you begin to understand what he's thinking and feeling. By the end, you might even feel a little sorry for him.
NYTheatre.com: Why is your show pertinent to today's times and/or why should your show be the choice for audiences to see?
BC: Serial killers are usually white males between the ages of 18 and 40. America has the highest number of serial killers in the world. At any given time there are 500 at large in the USA. Why is that? Just last week they solved some serial killings that went back 30 years. What happens when outwardly "normal" people snap? The play gives some insight into this question. The show is a ride through the dark side, but the drama is tempered by black humor it's certainly not like a sociology lecture!
NYTheatre.com: Why did you choose to present this show?
BC: Joyce Carol Oates--one of the greatest writers in America--plus a narcissistic sexual- predator-killer? The combination was irresistible. ZOMBIE is like a great Edgar Allen Poe story, but it's based on truth, so the horror is real. The scariest thing about the story is the serial killer's urges are so human. We've all felt some of the things he feels, but he takes things to the most terrible extremes--and acts on them. A great part of the fear is thinking, "I've sometimes felt things this killer is feeling. Is there something wrong with me? Am I like him?"