Support Red Door's Zombies

by Andrew R. Juhl

Red Door - Postcards from the Post-Apocalypse is a (1) short and (2) interesting piece of (3) vanity theatre, and it is precisely because of those three reasons that this piece does not fail onstage.

SHORT: Postcards is preceded by short sketch called “Room and Board,” which I talk about later, but the actual play itself comes in at right around 30 minutes—long enough paint the post-apocalyptic world for the audience and draw parallels from it to our own, long enough for the audience to become invested in the suffering and survival of the piece’s protagonist (writer/director Josh Beadle), and short enough to not repeat itself, overkill the theme, wear out its welcome, or beat a dead, zombified horse. You know, like that run-on sentence just did.

INTERESTING: Okay, so I’ll admit it: I’m a fan of the zombie genre. I play zombie video games, I read zombie-centric comics and books, I watch all variety of zombie moves (horror, comedy, & horror-comedy), and—of course—I’ve read The Gospels. So I will be blunt: there was nothing here I hadn’t heard or seen before. Even relegated to oeuvre of George Romero, there was nothing here I hadn’t heard or seen before.

But I’d never heard or seen it on a stage. I’d never been in the same room as a husky, brain-horny, and quite possibly Republican zombie. I’ve never been scared of a zombie who I couldn’t turn the page on, fast-forward through, or decapitate with a flick of my thumb. That was new. And it was enjoyable. I’d have to say that if I walked away from this production wanting any one thing, it’d be more zombies.

Beadle, playing possibly the last remaining human after the apocalypse, does an admirable job of relaying the psychological strain and survivor’s guilt of his character. His relays to the audience of the events leading up to and after the apocalypse contribute to a fanboy pastiche of the zombie genre as it exists currently, harkening strongly to movies such as Land of the Dead and—much more specifically—Zombieland.

In other words: if you like zombies, you’ll like this.

VANITY: This piece is too short and too derivative in its current form for one to expect it to be anything but locally and personally produced. I categorize this as a “strength” because it allows the audience to tell how much effort, care, and personality were contributed to the piece by its author and star. The person on stage is speaking words that he wrote himself, and it brings a truer, more real hue to the character than is normally found.

The flipside to this is when it bleeds over to the sketch preceded Postcards: Red Door’s episodic sitcom-for-the-stage “Room and Board.” I don’t want to be too critical of this piece, but I have to say that I found it confusing, unrehearsed, and painfully unfunny. It seemed tacked-on, as if Red Door felt they needed to add more time to the show to justify their $10 ticket price. In reality, this seemingly interminable sketch (which lasted maybe 6-8 minutes) made me question my decision to volunteer reviewing Postcards and brought my opinion of the composite show down more than a few notches.

That being said, Postcards itself salvaged the performance. Josh Beadle remains an identifiable protagonist, and co-star Rick Adams delivers as one scary-ass zombie. Consider supporting these local talents by attending Postcards from the Post-Apocalypse during its final run this weekend.


Andrew R. Juhl is an area author and director. He has previously worked with the City Circle Acting Company of Coralville and Rage Theatrics.