THE SHOW MUST GO ON (DURING THE ZOMBIE APOCALYPSE) By Bradley Walton Copyright © 2012 by Bradley Walton, All rights reserved. ISBN: 1-60003-672-4 CAUTION: Professionals and amateurs are hereby warned that this Work is subject to a royalty. This Work is fully protected under the copyright laws of the United States of America and all countries with which the United States has reciprocal copyright relations, whether through bilateral or multilateral treaties or otherwise, and including, but not limited to, all countries covered by the Pan-American Copyright Convention, the Universal Copyright Convention and the Berne Convention. RIGHTS RESERVED: All rights to this Work are strictly reserved, including professional and amateur stage performance rights. Also reserved are: motion picture, recitation, lecturing, public reading, radio broadcasting, television, video or sound recording, all forms of mechanical or electronic reproduction, such as CD-ROM, CD-I, DVD, information and storage retrieval systems and photocopying, and the rights of translation into non-English languages. PERFORMANCE RIGHTS AND ROYALTY PAYMENTS: All amateur and stock performance rights to this Work are controlled exclusively by Brooklyn Publishers, LLC. No amateur or stock production groups or individuals may perform this play without securing license and royalty arrangements in advance from Brooklyn Publishers, LLC. Questions concerning other rights should be addressed to Brooklyn Publishers, LLC. Royalty fees are subject to change without notice. Professional and stock fees will be set upon application in accordance with your producing circumstances. Any licensing requests and inquiries relating to amateur and stock (professional) performance rights should be addressed to Brooklyn Publishers, LLC. Royalty of the required amount must be paid, whether the play is presented for charity or profit and whether or not admission is charged. AUTHOR CREDIT: All groups or individuals receiving permission to produce this play must give the author(s) credit in any and all advertisement and publicity relating to the production of this play. The author’s billing must appear directly below the title on a separate line where no other written matter appears. The name of the author(s) must be at least 50% as large as the title of the play. No person or entity may receive larger or more prominent credit than that which is given to the author(s). PUBLISHER CREDIT: Whenever this play is produced, all programs, advertisements, flyers or other printed material must include the following notice: Produced by special arrangement with Brooklyn Publishers, LLC COPYING: Any unauthorized copying of this Work or excerpts from this Work is strictly forbidden by law. No part of this Work may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form, by any means now known or yet to be invented, including photocopying or scanning, without prior permission from Brooklyn Publishers, LLC. The Show Must Go On (During the Zombie Apocalypse) - Page 2 SYNOPSIS The school is putting on a play. The rehearsals were plagued with difficulties, but the cast, crew, and especially the director took the saying “the show must go on” to heart, and they’ve made it to opening night. Now, as the curtain rises, there’s a new problem—the zombie apocalypse has begun. But even though zombies are eating audience members while the stage manager fights off zombies attacking the cast onstage, the performance continues, because the show must go on! CHARACTERS (17 roles: 2 males, 2 females, 13 either, extras possible With doubling, 13 actors possible: 2 males, 2 females, 9 either) DIRECTOR (M or F) Director of the play “Teenage Problems” CRYSTAL / CHRIS (F or M) StageOnly manager of the play “Teenage Problems” “MEL” (F) A narcissisticCopy and self-absorbed character in the play “Teenage Problems” “JACK” (M) A character in the play “Teenage NotProblems,” sees “Mel” for what she is “SUSAN” (F) PerusalA character in the play “Teenage Problems,” “Mel’s” friend Do “BOBBY” (M) A character in the play “Teenage Problems,” has a crush on “Mel” “PATRICIA” / “PATRICK” (M or F) A character in the play “Teenage Problems,” a super-active jock being played by an actor on crutches with a broken leg “ANNIE” / “ARNIE” (M or F) A character in the play “Teenage Problems,” a party hostess being played by an actress wearing an eye patch The Show Must Go On (During the Zombie Apocalypse) - Page 3 AUDIENCE MEMBER 1 (M or F) AUDIENCE MEMBER 2 (M or F) AUDIENCE MEMBER 3 (M or F) AUDIENCE MEMBER 4 (M or F) ZOMBIE 1 (M or F) ZOMBIE 2 (M or F) ZOMBIE 3 (M or F) ZOMBIE 4 (M or F) ZOMBIE 5 (M or F) Only FLEXIBLE CASTING DOUBLING Copy Depending on how elaborate your production’s zombie makeup is, it is possible for the AUDIENCE MEMBERS to double as ZOMBIES 2, 3, 4 and 5. (Actually, it would work out very nicely for AUDIENCE MEMBER 4 to come back as ZOMBIE 5.) Not Perusal EXTRAS Do There may be additional AUDIENCE MEMBERS who get up and leave during the show. These AUDIENCE MEMBERS can then double as additional PARTYGOERS for the party scene. DURATION Approximately 25 minutes The Show Must Go On (During the Zombie Apocalypse) - Page 4 PRODUCTION NOTES COSTUMES The CHARACTERS in the play-within-the-play are dressed in contemporary teenage attire. The DIRECTOR should wear something dressy and nice-looking. CRYSTAL is the stage manager and should be dressed in all black. She may have multiple changes of the same outfit in progressively more and more ragged condition as her appearance becomes increasingly disheveled from fighting zombies as the show progresses. The AUDIENCE MEMBERS are dressed in normal street clothes. The ZOMBIES wear torn and bloodied clothes. Only STAGING There are two scenes in “Teenage Problems,”Copy the play-within-the-play. The first is a school hallway. Some lockers or a flat with lockers painted on it would be ideal for this scene, but it could also be performed on a bare stage if need be. The second scene is in a living room where a party is being held. A sofa is needed here, along with a table with a stereo. Some other living room furnitureNot would be useful to help set the scene as well. Alternatively, it would be fine to paint or draw the furniture pieces on small flatsPerusal and place them around the stage. Do DIRECTOR NOTES Since the zombies are introduced part way through the show, some groups may want to keep the undead element a secret and completely surprise the unsuspecting audience. This may be particularly effective if the play is performed as a school assembly. (If you're charging admission, it may not be such a good idea.) If you feel that surprising your audience would be beneficial to your particular production, it is permissible to advertise the show with the title “Teenage Problems” and use that title in your programs. Actors playing AUDIENCE MEMBERS and ZOMBIES may be listed as “additional cast members.” The DIRECTOR and CRYSTAL could be listed as “student director” and “assistant stage manager,” and CRYSTAL’s name can be changed to The Show Must Go On (During the Zombie Apocalypse) - Page 5 that of the performer. Proper credit must still be given to the author on all programs, posters, and advertising. At the end of the show, a slide that reads as follows must be projected on a screen or wall: This has been a production of Teenage Problems The Show Must Go On (During the Zombie Apocalypse) by Bradley Walton If the play is being performed at a festival or competition, it must be entered and listed in all programs and advertising under its real title. AUTHOR NOTES At this point in my career, The Show Must Go On (During the Zombie Apocalypse) is my second-favorite ideaOnly for a play that I’ve ever had. (The first being Wake Up and Smell the Coffee in Your Pants, which is about a teenager trying to walk nonchalantly through a mall while wearing a diaper full of coffee under his pants.Copy And yes, I’ve given up on ever becoming a completely mature adult.) I’ve never been a big fan of the zombie genre, with The Walking Dead (both the comic and the TV show) being a major exception. But the idea of zombies attacking a school play…Not and the performance just keeps going… I had to do it. Just had to. Perusal PROPERTIESDo – PERSONAL clipboard – DIRECTOR cell phone – “MEL” cell phone – “BOBBY” cell phone – AUDIENCE MEMBER 1 cell phone – AUDIENCE MEMBER 2 cell phone – AUDIENCE MEMBER 3 crutches and leg cast – “PATRICIA” music stand or stool – CRYSTAL crowbar – CRYSTAL roll of duct tape – CRYSTAL The Show Must Go On (During the Zombie Apocalypse) - Page 6 THE SHOW MUST GO ON (DURING THE ZOMBIE APOCALYPSE) by Bradley Walton In front of the closed curtain, the DIRECTOR enters, holding a clipboard, and addresses the audience. DIRECTOR: Good evening. I’d like to welcome everyone to (insert name of school or organization)’s production of “Teenage Problems.” My name is (insert name of performer) and I directed (or “student- directed”) this show. It’s been an interesting few weeks. Prepping a play is always a challenge, but this one was more challenging than usual. Due to various scheduling conflicts in our auditorium (or “theatre”), we were forced to hold most of our rehearsals on the school’s tennis courts (or “in the alley out back”). One cast member moved to Italy a week after auditions, but we were able to re-cast the role. The following week, another cast member sustained a severe eye injury while brushing her teeth.Only Happily, she was able to rejoin the show.