Kennedy Theatre’s newest production, Uncle Vanya and Zombies, directed by Markus Wessendorf, takes audiences to a collapsed society, where the University of Hawaiʻi is a wasteland, and zombies are roaming the island of Oʻahu after a recent accident on one of the nuclear submarines off Pearl Harbor.
To increase their ratings, a major network has turned Kennedy Theatre into a television studio for regular broadcasts of their new reality show Theatre Masterpieces and Zombies. The contestants on this show not only have to act in a classical play but also have to survive its performance. The major challenge for the contestants is to stay in character and get through the performance alive while fending off zombies released into the arena by the popular host of the show. After the peak ratings of last month’s The Tempest and Zombies, the producers have decided to go for a classic example of realism this time, Anton Chekhov’s Uncle Vanya (1897).
Tickets and show information
- Dates and times—November 9, 10, 15, 16, 17 at 8 p.m. and November 18 at 2 p.m.
- Ticket prices—Regular is $24; seniors, military, UH faculty/staff is $22; UH Alumni Association Members is 15; students is $13 and UH Mānoa students with valid ID is $5
The public is invited to free pre-show chats on Friday, November 9; Friday, November 16 and Saturday, November 17, all at 6:30 p.m. in the Ernst Lab Theatre. There will be a panel discussion entitled The Zombie Renaissance:Why Now? on Saturday, November 10, at 5 p.m. at the Art Auditorium. The post-show discussion will take place on Thursday, November 15.
Other zombie events
- Book Reading by Kyle William Bishop (The Zombie Renaissance: Hidden Meanings of Pop-Culture Texts)—Thursday, November 8 at 3:30 p.m. at Hamilton Library
- UH Mānoa Student Buy-One-Get-One-Free Night—Thursday, November 15
- Book Reading by Storm Stoker (Once Upon a Zombie-a Zombie Fairy Tale)—Sunday, November 18 at 1 p.m.
- Public Talk by Sarah Wayne Callies (Chekhov and Zombies – a Match Made in Heaven)—Saturday, December 8 at 7 p.m. on the main stage
