NOC OŽIVLÝCH MRTVOL / NIGHT OF THE LIVING DEAD

David Drábek

Cast: 4 women, 7-11 men and a lot of zombies

A cabaret piece reaching to genuine horror. Drábek’s tribute to all A, B and C zombie-horrors.

Once upon a time there was a TV studio and in the studio was Beverly Rodriguez, a talk show host who in his typical, politically absolutely incorrect way managed to insult people of all colors, sexual preferences, political affiliations and religious beliefs in a single sentence. His cowboy hat, leather saddle and his unique choice of guests would make Andy Kaufmann green with envy. ButBeverlyis not alone to make all the TV fun. There is also his assistant Žaneta and Slávek, the cleaner. Žaneta wishes everyone joy and happiness even though she feels lonely herself. Thanks to her and her therapist, the audience can learn what pre-unfastened means. Slávek is happy. He loves his work that mainly involves sweeping the floors in the studio and he values the legacy of T. G. Masaryk, in which he was initiated by a nice lady at the orphanage.

Beverlylikes bizarre guests like René, a smiling man who came to the studio to make a surprising revelation of his SM practices in front of his hysterical mother, his reticent father who is also an amateur magician and his Serbo-Croatian boyfriend Goran. And apart from his sexual life, René has got one more secret to confess – he likes to tailor female bodies. The today’s celebrity is Petr Kolář, a former rock star who has become a singer of sad ballads for housewives. He will confess the pains of a boy who from his early childhood wanted to be a bouncer.

Apart from interviews and passionate confessions,Beverly’s country show is also meant for children who will enjoy Kiki a Baryk’s children show. Kiki a Baryk are a couple that tours kindergartens all over the republic to amuse the little ones. The talk show also brings daily news presented by Ishtar, a super-sexy supermodel presenter. Recently, she acts a little weird. She wears a surgical mask and instead of traffic, weather and politics, she speaks about an infection that rapidly spreads. Sport fans will certainly enjoy a wrestling match between the Czech Honza and a Russian tsar Sergei refereed by an impartial arbiter from the European Union Bernardo Suarez. But what will the winner get? Václav Klaus’ new book A Red, Not a Green Planet?

The entertainment is more and more often disturbed by bizarre things. Is Goran’s dark prediction brought just by his broken heart or is there something else? And is lack of magnesium the real cause of his stiff gestures? Lights in the studio are getting darker and the living dead are multiplying. Will the last living save their souls from the dead? Can Pert Kolář operate a machinegun? What is an African insurance agent doing there? Why is there a human arm on the floor? And is it still theatre or fight for survival?

  The play is available in Czech original.