Local Halloween Theater Features Zombies, Acrobats and Scary Tales
Not into dressing up, but still like Halloween? Go watch other people mimic the undead for you. Here are some local folks making Halloween theater in the borough this season, so dress up or dress down and partake in the festivities. But please, no tall hats.
Were you a fan of Mystery Science Theater 3000? Well, board the satellite of love, bring some friends along to act as Tom Servo and Crow, and head to The Brick Theater in Williamsburg to see Plan 9 From Outer Space, DMTheatric’s re-staging of the film by infamous B-movie master Ed Wood.
Watch as extra-terrestrials in UFO’s journey to Earth to resurrect the dead, command their new zombie army to take over Hollywood and then marvel at the poor human fools who try to quell their invasion. Writer, director and head of DMTheatrics, Frank Cwiklik, has cleverly adapted several Ed Wood movies in the past and also was also the creator of cult theater hits such as Bitch Macbeth and Two Gentlemen of Lebowski.
Thursday, Friday and Saturday you can catch the show at 10pm, allowing you enough time to stop by Barcade a few blocks down Union Avenue for a quick game of Satan’s Hollow to try your own hand at fighting off gargoyles and ghosts with your pumpkin ale, and imagine that, like Mike Nelson (or Joel Robinson) of MST3000 you were also abducted by an evil scientist and driven to insanity by bad B-movie theatrics. Hopefully, like Mike and Joel you will survive by laughter. Hopefully. The show runs October 16-31 promising a special “Halloween Blowout” on the big day.
If your YouTube adjusted mind can’t take sitting for that long, and you’re not up for watching another edition of Children of the Corn this year, be sure to check out The Halloween Plays, three “spooky, devilishly fun, and original” one-act plays put on as a collaboration between local theater companies Brave New World Repertory Theatre and Company XIV.
Featuring local writers and choreographers, the line up includes a noir style comedy called Salsa by Greg Kotis, writer of the book and co-author of the lyrics for Urinetown, Too Much Candy, a “spooky fairy tale” by Cynthia Babak (who also serves as Brave New World Associate Artistic Director) and finally Dénouement, choreographed, conceived and directed by Austin McCormick, Company XIV founder. Since Company XIV is known for using many different mediums beyond the realm of conventional theater, you can expect to be in for an eerie and bewitching treat that may leave you howling or spellbound or both. The Halloween Plays runs from October 21–31.
If you are feeling a bit more naughty this Halloween, head over to the supposedly haunted half abandoned, turn of the century Dansbro Brewery in Bushwick for “The Horror Show”, an interdisciplinary performance set in New Orleans in the early 1900’s. Watch the performance evolve around you (and above you) to the live jazz score of the Stumblebum Brass Band in this crazy combination of “circus meets ballet meets nightmare.” Written, directed and produced by Anya Sapozhnikova, founder of The House of Yes and choreographed by Brett Lord the show is based around a steamy love triangle gone terribly wrong. Definitely not for the faint of heart or those with vertigo. Watch a preview in the video below.
If you are early, head into the miniature and cozy Duckduck and you can still catch their happy hour, lasting until 8pm for frighteningly cheap beer and shot combos. The Horror Show runs October 21-29.
