Zombie theatre has been done,  ”Zombieland” hosted zombie walks across the country, but now it’s time for some scary new interactivity. Zombies Attack Chicago is a live interactive event incorporating mixed media, make-up, special effects, and stage violence. Based on the film genre, this production of Chicago’s Nothing Without a Company propels the audience into a zombie movie. Through a series of “Choose Your Own Adventure” incidents, the audience must decide how to weather the onslaught of the undead. How will you survive a night of the living dead?

UPDATE:

It’s good. It’s fun. And it’s at a bar, so you’ll have plenty of opportunity to make booze-soaked poor decisions to determine the fate of you and those around you. You won’t know what’s going on, who’s who, or even if you yourself are a zombie. No two performances are alike! Good luck surviving it.

It should also be mentioned the building it takes place in is known for haunts and a trouble, slightly murdery / death filled past.

$15
The Spot 4437 N. Broadway Ave.
South of the Wilson Redline “L” stop.
Every Friday in October, 7:30 pm

Keep reading for a special deal for Undead Report readers!

You want horror, you got it. Zombies Attack Chicago is a live interactive event incorporating mixed media, make-up, special effects, and stage violence. Blood, gore, horror, scary Halloween shenanigans, what more could one ask for? How about bringing a friend to revel in the violence?

ZAC Facebook Event Listing | ZAC Facebook Fan Page

Tell them “Bud” sent you for 2-for-1 tickets!

March 14, 2009, Chicago.

A small horde of approximately 50 to 60 zombies was seen, of all places, at a bowling alley on a Saturday night. No reported outbreaks have happened since, and infection was kept to a minimum. Luckily I came prepared to kick some ass with a trusty rifle, sidearm, ninja sword and an endless supply of head smashing bowling balls. Sadly, I was the only zombie hunter in the place, but I rather prefer it that way as I don’t want anyone taking my headshots.

Wildclaw Theatre‘s zombie bowling night was a huge success full of beer, balls and brains. It was a fantastic alternative for many to be zombified and drunk, instead of the normal St Pat’s stupid and drunk. As mentioned before I was a little disappointed to see I was the only survivor amongst the crowd, but I have a mission of survival to represent, bowling balls, Nerf guns and all. I brought a stack of zombie targets to generate some hype, and they were very well received.

There was a table full of prizes and shwag, awarded throughout the night during movie trivia contests, scream compeitions, beauty pageants and more.  A young girl owned first place in the screaming contest with an almost inhuman high pitched ear splitting shrill. Nice. Wildclaw had a table setup where they were making up zombies and covering them in my favorite ice cream topping: blood and gore. There was the ironic zombie with a “Get More Out Of Life” t-shirt. Another zombie bowler mistakenly thought it could bowl with a severed human head in its bowling bag, St Patrick’s day parade beads still hanging from its’ lifeless form. Several other zombies died particualrly gruesome deaths with miscellanous devices sticking from their corpses such as screws and butcher knives. Kitty Zombie from Chicago’s Zombie Army Productions made a groan filled appearance.

The event was a fundraiser for Wildclaw’s upcoming April production of a zombie play, The Revenants, by by Scott T. Barsotti. The Revenants will be about a small group of people who must survive the holocaust and come to grips with their own lives and salvation. “As wounded spouses take a turn for the worse, husbands and wives must ask of each other: When does love die?”

Stay tuned in April for some classy zombie madness.

Now, on to the photos of zombie bowling!

Chicago is always full of people walking around half dead, shouting, and attacking each other. And I’m not just talking about the zombies, this time I’m referring to the Irish.

St Patrick’s day weekend is always a good time in the windy city, and expect it to be particularly interesting March 14th, when hordes of the undead converge on the lanes instead of brains. I’ll be there with some of my crew, but don’t expect me to be one of the zombified — someone has to protect you from the gutterball slinging madness.

WildClaw Theatre Proudly Presents: Zombie Bowling
A Benefit for the Midwest premiere of The Revenants.

A little bit about the The Revenants:

‘Til death do us part? When a global outbreak of horrific violence forces two couples to hide in an abandoned basement, they come face to face with the true meaning of commitment. As wounded spouses take a turn for the worse, husbands and wives must ask of each other: When does love die?

April 20, 2009
Angel Island Theater, Chicago

WildClaw Theatre Company proudly announces Zombie Bowling, Saturday March 14th, at 9:00pm, at the Timber Lanes, 1851 W. Irving Park, Chicago. Admission to this evening of bowling and brains is $20 in advance/$25 at the door. You provide the zombie or the victim, we provide the shoes and the bowling. Tickets are limited so buy your tickets today at www.wildclawtheatre.com.

For $5 extra you can get zombiefied by WildClaw! Undead America Founder and Zombie Engineer, Aly Renee Greaves will be heading up a team of gruesome makeup specialists on site to transmogrify you.

The folks who brought you DEATHSCRIBE, The Great God Pan, and H.P. Lovecraft’s The Dreams In The Witch House, present an evening of bowling and fun like nothing you have witnessed before.

Featuring:

• The Horror Queen Scream-off!
• Zombie-oke!
• The Ultimate Horror Movie Trivia Contest!
• Zombie Beauty Pageant!
• Raffles with prizes!
• Cash Bar!

This promises to be an evening of shambling, bowling, drinking, macabre mastication, reanimation, yet more shambling, brain-eating fun that you won’t want to miss.

Proceeds from this benefit will go directly towards WildClaw Theatre’s production of Scott T. Barsotti’s The Revenants, directed by Anne Adams, opening April 20th at the Angel Island Theatre in Chicago.

Timber Lanes is near all forms of public transportation and is wheelchair accessible. Neighborhood parking near the Timber Lanes is limited. Please allow extra time when arriving by car.

If you found yourself trapped in a gymnasium with hordes of brain hungry zombies coming from every door and window, what would you do? Fight? Flee? Scream? You’d probably die, because you haven’t seen the second hand tacitcal simulation that is being demonstrated here in Chicago. A small group of survivors has been banding together in a gym and running repeated drills on zombie holocaust survival and zombie elimination.

The Sandbox Theatre Project is running a preparedness simulation called “Multi Purpose Doom“, which is performed at 9pm every Friday and Saturday night through August 23rd at the Menomonee Club in Lincoln Park. The exercise consists of several groups of day-to-day people who have inadvertently been overbooked in the same gymnasium. The jittery self help group, a woefully unprepared and ditzy high school reunion organizer, and the jocks all try for their right to own the space for the night. The typical survival character archetypes shine after the inevitable (and bloodily hilarious) zombie outbreak.

The production values are quite high with blood filled theatrics, moulage, costume design and dismemberment. From ballerina to nervous life coach, all manner of zombie come out to feast on a half dozen survivors. Slow moving, brain eating zombies are a highly unlikely scenario, but the director uses them to create great comedy and tension building. Of note is that particular zombies exhibit character traits of their recently lost humanity. These low-memory zombies present several problems that our heros must quickly and creatively deal with in order to survive. Reactionary and improvisational fighting is key to fending off an attack in unfamiliar and undefended locations, especially if the zombies exhibit low-function thinking.

The survivors demonstrate proper infected restraint techniques, but fail to adequately barricade entrances and exits. Melee or close combat weapons are also missing. As one unfortunate survivor demonstrates, I suggest not going alone for ammunition and provisions.

The production is full of excellently choreographed gunplay, combat, suspense, humor and tension. The producers have taken certain liberties to include the gunplay in a family-friendly house, but it is still quite effective in illustrating proper zombie removal techniques. Zombie movie cliches are seen as each survivor has their shining moment towards the end of the play, but this is will written with a nod to popular zombie cinema.

“Multi-Purpose Doom” is a must see for any zombie fan. As zombie preparedness training exercises go, it’s top notch and the high quotient of humor is a must for keeping your sanity. If you failed to collect your shwag at this years earlier events, you get a killer Zombie Survival Merit Badge for coming to see the show!

The exercise runs Fridays and Saturdays July 18th -> August 23, doors 8:30, play 9:00.
Menomonee Club 1535 N Dayton, Chicago $15

Multi-Purpose Doom at Sandbox Theatre Project

Update 08/04/08: SEE THIS PLAY

It’s not so much a play as it is a first-hand observational experience in survival, horror, comedy and defense. It’s well produced and well acted, and follows the characterization and drama of Romero’s signature movies. The play is suggested donation $15 and it’s absolutely worth it. You also get a zombie survival merit badge to add to your collection!

Fridays and Saturdays July 18th -> August 23, doors 8:30, play 9:00
Menomonee Club 1535 N Dayton, Chicago $15

First a zombie pub crawl, then a thousand zombies marching downtown, and now zombies are invading the stage. In a rather inventive site-specific play, Sandbox Theatre Project is performing a zombie themed horror comedy in Lincoln Park called “Multi-Purpose Doom”.

The Menomonee Club in Chicago’s Lincoln Park has been triple booked. Extracurricular opinions clash as everyone jockeys for exclusive use of a room meant to build community not rabble-rouse! Everyone may be forced to get along after all when people start disappearing only to reappear with pale skin, a slow gait, and the nagging need to eat everyone else’s brains.

From the Centerstage Chicago review:

With a nod to George H. Romero’s “Living Dead” movie series, as well as plenty of blood, laughs and a certain powdered soft drink, Sandbox Theatre Project’s production of “Multi-Purpose Doom” will keep you on the edge of your seat—and since you’ll be sitting on bleachers, that’s the perfect position.

In the brightly lit gymnasium where the play is set, the glaring overhead lights give the feeling that nothing could go wrong. The gym has been overbooked for the night among a high-school reunion set-up crew, basketball players and a self-help group full of easily rattled members. So what group gets the rightful use of the gym? Only the authority of the seen-it-all janitor can solve the problem.

Then the zombies arrive, and hell seemingly breaks loose. Not to fear, the janitor happens to be well-versed in dealing with the undead, and leads the living on a kill-or-be-killed mission providing action, adventure and through it all, self-realization.

When the action gets going, and the zombies begin their rampage, the entire ensemble shines. They hold back nothing. It’s not only fun to watch, but because of the audience’s proximity to the action, you really feel you are taking part and rooting the living on to victory.

A nice touch Sandbox lends to the production is the interaction the ensemble has with the audience beforehand. Audience members are encouraged to shoot baskets with the actors, explore the Menomonee Club facilities and remember what it’s like to be back in a gym.

Fridays and Saturdays July 18th -> August 23, doors 8:30, play 9:00
Menomonee Club 1535 N Dayton, Chicago