“Fighting, dancing, singing, bad bits, hilarious puns, blood, violence, gore, you name it.”
That’s how William Shakespeare himself (a.k.a. Thompson Rivers University Theatre Major and actor Zachary Leishman) describes William Shakespeare’s Playhouse of Horror – and it’s probably the most accurate warning you’re going to get.
Running Oct. 1-3 and Oct. 7-9, this production comes just in time to combat your back-to-school fatigue and welcome the arrival of spooky season. TRU Actors Workshop Theatre is throwing Shakespeare’s most recognizable characters into some very unexpected, yet iconic, horror movie plots. The result, as Leishman puts it, is a “tongue-in-cheek, satirical horror show,” that promises blood, musical numbers, raunchy references, and plenty of laughs.
You may not be familiar with the famous bard’s work or even horror movies in general, but “you don’t need to be a Shakespearean scholar or even an avid horror fan to get the jokes,” said actor and TRU Math Major Matt Olsen.
Students by day, undead Shakespeare characters by night, this production is a culmination of hard work and long hours from the people sitting in your lectures, cramming for quizzes, juggling group projects and wondering when they’ll get their next full night of sleep.
“I’m taking four courses right now, working, and doing the rehearsals. I’m sleep deprived, but the cast and our director make it worth it,” said actor and Public Relations major, Luigi Guilles. “Taking part in it is just so fulfilling that I’m willing to make it fit my schedule.”
With this show, there’s certainly a lot to make room for. William Shakespeare’s Playhouse of Horror doesn’t stick to a single story – or even a single genre. “It’s popular Shakespearean characters thrown into famous plots. For example, the characters from The Tempest get thrown into the plot of Psycho and you get The Tempest Motel. There are five different vignettes in that way, and Shakespeare is our host throughout the evening,” describes TRU Theatre Coordinator and director, Catriona Leger.
The playwright of this production, Dan Bray, was also behind last year’s winter production, A Christmas Carol: The Revenge of Tiny Tim. “I came across that [Playhouse of Horror] script, and I really thought it would be a great fit for our season and the time slot,” said Leger.
But putting on that kind of chaos takes some serious commitment. Rehearsals kicked off over a month ago on Aug. 24, with the cast and crew putting in eight-hour, daily rehearsals up until school began, when rehearsal time switched to night shifts.
“I would not see my roommates at all because I was always the first one out of the house, and the last one home,” said Olsen.
For these students, it’s not only the long hours and great company that make the experience worthwhile – it’s also the theatre itself. Located on the first floor of Old Main, the TRU Actors Workshop Theatre is the university’s very own black box theatre – an intimate space where audiences aren’t separated from the performers by a massive stage or movie screen.
“When you’re in a movie theatre, it’s different. There’s a removal. I couldn’t walk into Robert Downey Jr. after watching Avengers. But I could walk out of this production and see the guy who played so-and-so,” said Leishman.
That closeness is part of what makes the theatre such a valuable space for students. As the final graduates of TRU’s now defunct Bachelor of Fine Arts program walked the stage last year, opportunities for aspiring artists and performers to learn, create and gain experience in Kamloops are more valuable than ever. “It’s so important that we have this space to create and have directors that allow us to continue growing when it comes to acting and performing,” said Guilles.
“We’re mirroring what students can expect to experience when they blow out into the profession,” said Leger. “Sometimes people think, ‘I’m going to go see the school play and it’ll be like when I was in Grade 5,’ but we’re not a drama club.” With rigorous rehearsals and a dedicated team of students and faculty, these productions operate at a remarkably high level. Many of the department’s actors, technicians and artists go on to work in theatre professionally, both in Kamloops with companies like Western Canada Theatre and beyond.
When the stage comes alive – or, in this show, back from the dead – the experience is something you can’t quite replicate anywhere else. At just $20 a ticket, you don’t have to know Shakespeare inside and out, and you don’t have to be a horror buff. You just have to show up.
As Olsen puts it, “There’s nothing like live theatre.” And if that doesn’t convince you, I’ll leave the final word to Leger: “One thing AI can’t replace is live theatre.”
Tickets are now on sale. The production will be running Oct. 1-3 and 7-9 at 8:00 p.m.