By Russ Tarby
Contributing Writer
In the 1968 film version of “Night of the Living Dead,” the two main characters are a frightened and flustered young blonde woman, Barbara, and a no-nonsense African American man, Ben. The unlikely pair is trapped in a rural farmhouse as they fend off an endless onslaught of flesh-eating zombies.
The same motif lies at the heart of CNY Playhouse’s current production of Lori Allen Ohm’s stage adaptation from George Romero and John Russo’s film script. Director Dan Rowlands — who previously helmed productions of adaptations such as “Reservoir Dogs” and “Macbeth” — also designed the “Dead” set, a simple but subtly conceived farmhouse interior which continues the black-white theme with touches such as a small black cross on the grey stairwell and a piercing dark portrait of — is that Rowlands himself? — hanging on the wall beside a poster perversely advising, “Cherish today.”
As zombies wander in and out of the audience itself, the overall eeriness effectively settles in due largely to the “look” of this otherwise uneven production.
Delivering a sure-handed and strong-voiced performance, however, James E. Sanders takes control and never lets loose until the surprise ending. Sanders has leading man written all over him. He handles violent scenes — a slap here, a crowbar there — as deftly as he does the tender talks Ben must have to calm Barbara, ably portrayed by scream-queen Lynn Barbato King.
Real-life married couple Josh and Korrie Taylor convincingly play the bickering basement dwellers, Harry and Helen Cooper, and fifth-grader Amber Bates portrays their ill-fated daughter, Karen.
Solid support comes from Phil Brady, David Dean, R. Bernard Ment, Justin Polly Matthew Soffietti and the lovely Katie Tucker. Eighteen “ghouls” round out the cast, including veterans such as Christopher James Lupia and Beverly Cooney Poznoski, al
ong with newcomers like Casey Parker and eighth-grader Ben Stisser.
Spoiler alert: Just as Romero’s B-film had social import in 1968, the year both Martin Luther King Jr. and Malcolm X were shot to death, this stage play takes on new meaning in the era of Black Lives Matter. The irony is thick and heavy: after forging an alliance with his fellow — albeit white — farmhouse companions to boldly battle the zombies, Ben meets a cruel fate when a redneck sheriff’s posse mistakes him for a zombie and instantly executes him with a shot to the head.
“Night of the Living Dead” produced by Sarah Anson, runs at 8 p.m. Thursday, Friday, Saturday and Sunday Oct. 27, 28, 29, at 2 p.m. Sunday, and at 8 p.m. Oct. 30, and Nov. 3, 4 and 5, at CNY Playhouse located near the Macy’s entrance at DeWitt’s Shoppingtown Mall; Tickets cost $17 on Thursday and Sunday, and $22 on Friday and Saturday; 885-8960; cnyplayhouse.com.
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