In the wake of of last year’s popular site-specific theatre experience The Zombie Syndrome, The Virtual Stage presents the sequel, The Zombie Syndrome: On Death Island, which runs until Nov. 3. If you’re looking for a unique way to get in the Halloween spirit, this show is the perfect fit.
Unlike a conventional theatre experience, audience members (“special agents”) are not told the venue until the night before their “mission.” The secret rendez-vous point, along with instructions for getting your smartphone ready for action, are emailed to all participants. There is even a “secret pass phrase” to use once you arrive.
During the meeting at the beginning of the mission, each agent is given a role within the story: I was the engineer, and my boyfriend was the psychologist. There’s also a chemist, biologist, electrician, and many other roles. As the engineer I was given zip ties to use later in the show, but I won’t tell you what that was for.
Roaming around “Death Island,” trying not to get eaten by zombies, and using smartphones to help the Department of National Defence track down the terrorist Sgt. William Sullivan are all things guests can look forward to.
Unlike a conventional theatre experience, audience members (“special agents”) are not told the venue until the night before their “mission.”
Last year’s show, also written by Andy Thompson, was very well received by audiences and was nominated for two Jessie Richardson Theatre Awards. This show picks up where the last left off, as Sgt. Sullivan holds the only cure to the deadly virus that reanimates the dead, and Sgt. Benjamin Allan has called in special agents to stop him. That being said, it is not essential that you’ve seen last year’s show since all of these details will be explained.
While last year’s show was more spread out, involving different locations around the city and requiring the use of public transit and a van to pick up agents after their mission, this year’s incarnation has improved that aspect of the show and there is little transportation involved. They have also minimized the number of physical clues and envelopes of evidence that participants have to decipher, which was a bit disappointing as it was enjoyable the first time around.
Even though I loved the way producers, The Virtual Stage, incorporated smartphone technology — like QR codes and GPS — into the show and made the audience part of the action, I think there is room for improvement.
Should they decide to put on a third installment next year there are a few things they could do to make the experience even better. A couple of the actors, for example, seemed to struggle to stay completely in character when faced with a group of people who say and do unexpected things and, at some points the pace felt a bit too rushed as we were moved along to our next stop.
I would also like to see more zombies involved in the show and maybe some more excitement surrounding them. There were a couple of scenes that featured small hordes, but even though we were constantly looking over our shoulders, I only saw one lone zombie wandering around.
Still, there were definitely some moments that elicited shrieks from fellow agents, and this may be your only chance to prepare for a zombie apocalypse after all, so I suggest you sign up to help save the world.
