The Undead Players

Various Authors

Note

This bundle consisting of five books is sold at 20% off the regular price for its individual titles.

$59.00

Acting Edition — Dracula by Neil LaBute, based on the novel by Bram Stoker

Neil LaBute brings a rich theatricality and his provocative way with language and story to the world of Count Dracula, Van Helsing, Jonathan Harker, and his beloved Mina — this time, with very much a mind of her own — infusing the classic gothic tale of terror, obsession, and pathos with a modern edge. Chilling yet stylish in its atmosphere, dark yet deeply human in its emotional impact, Neil LaBute's DRACULA is a tribute to both LaBute's dramatic vision and the timelessness of Stoker's novel.

Book — Dracula Rides Again by Jeff Goode

When Doc Frankenstein and the Count fall for the same showgirl, you’re in for an evening of showdowns and hoedowns that could turn Tombstone into a ghost town. A Halloween Western family entertainment in two acts. And the Mummy dances.

Book — Living Dead in Denmark by Qui Nguyen

When the dead walk … you run! LIVING DEAD IN DENMARK is an action-adventure/horror sequel to William Shakespeare’s HAMLET. Set five years after the events of the original, the undead have risen to power and are trying to take over the world, led by the zombie lord and true king of Denmark. Fortinbras, assembling a formidable opposition, has resurrected the corpses of some of the greatest women that Shakespeare had to offer: Lady Macbeth, Juliet, and the very angry Ophelia. A clash of the undead titans ensues!

Book — Tainted Blood by Tom Jacobson

Oscar Wilde, Bram Stoker, and Sir Arthur Conan Doyle use logic and religion to fend off a seductive vampire in this fang-in-cheek comedy/thriller.

Acting Edition — Vampire Dreams by Suzy McKee Charnas

The play revolves around Edward Weyland, a 2,000-year-old vampire who poses as a professor. He is forced to see a therapist in order to maintain his employment. During these sessions his doctor realizes his identity, leading to encounters of humor and suspense.

Description

The undead have arisen. Bear witness. They walk among us, crossing downstage left and upstage right. Not only do they lust for blood and brains, but they hunger for applause and lots of it. These hideously seductive vampires and remarkably eloquent zombies will mesmerize the *!&# out of you. Bundle ships with a dozen garlic cloves, a vial of holy water, and a ball-peen hammer.

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Reviews

Press Quotes

DRACULA RIDES AGAIN

“One of the most interesting young writing talents in the off-Loop scene, Goode is in equal parts funny, angry, imaginative, crude and hopelessly over the top.” —Chicago Tribune

“A depraved playwright.” —Denver Post

“A smarty-pants theater cult-god.” —Northern California Bohemian

“It’s easy to see why some might call Jeff Goode ‘anti-Christ.'” —Arizona Daily Star

“Playwright Goode is a witty wordsmith.” —Beacon Journal (Akron)

LIVING DEAD IN DENMARK

“Remember the excitement of each new production from the Ridiculous Theatrical Company? The company would offer a riff on a classic, shot through with enough satire to stand on its own. Vampire Cowboys Theater Company is channeling that energy in LIVING DEAD IN DENMARK, the hilarious and witty new play by Qui Nguyen. Nguyen, like Charles Ludlam before him, knows his Shakespeare. Using HAMLET as a jumping-off point, Nguyen throws in martial arts, horror movies, pop songs, puppetry, and comic books. Eat your heart out, Ed Wood … A Backstage Critic’s Pick!” —Victor Gluck, Backstage

“Qui Nguyen’s comic book fantasia on Bardic themes takes characters from the main tragedies and throws them into an us-versus-zombies apocalyptic scenario, with enough rock-accompanied stage combat to keep an Elizabethan groundling satisfied. This gamely trashy treat is a perfect storm of theater―and horror―geek obsessions.” —David Cote, Time Out New York

TAINTED BLOOD

“Jacobson’s clever play balances repressed Victorian sexuality, historical anecdote, over-the-top hilarity and vampire melodrama into an intoxicating brew.” —L A Weekly

“Tom Jacobson’s clever satiric pastiche pits Oscar Wilde, Bram Stoker, and Sir Arthur Conan Doyle against the undead. Drawing on the three writers’ shared fascination with the occult, Jacobson assembles them at Wilde’s Irish estate for a demonstration by a sinister Indian mesmerist. A dizzying tapestry of literary and mythological vampire lore overlays Wilde’s own demons.” —Los Angeles Times

VAMPIRE DREAMS

“The device for the play is that of a modern and successful psychoanalyst who finds herself strangely attracted to her patient, a renowned anthropology professor who claims to be a vampire. The doctor of course, knows there are no such things as vampires but his sophisticated and erudite manner becomes an obsessive fascination … Charnas’s dialogue is stylish and witty — a contemporary comedy with an unsettling mixture of romance, mysticism, fantasy and sophistication … the play is mesmerizing.” —A J Esta, Dramalogue

“… a wonderful tale of deceptions, seduction, destruction, and romance.” —Kathleen Baca, San Francisco Sentinel

“Charnas clearly knows her way around the undead. Her play is full of savvy, one to tempted to say biting, wit, with a realistic, common-sense attitude toward vampirism … The dialogue is bright and crisp … Highly unsafe sex.” —Gerald Nachman, San Francisco Chronicle

About the Author

Author

  • Neil LaBute

    Neil LaBute received his Master of Fine Arts degree in dramatic writing from New York University and was the recipient of a literary fellowship to study at the Royal Court Theatre, London. He also attended the Sundance Institute's Playwrights Lab and is the Playwright-in-Residence with MCC Theatre in New York City. LaBute's plays include: BASH: LATTER-DAY PLAYS, THE SHAPE OF THINGS, THE MERCY SEAT, THE DISTANCE FROM HERE, AUTOBAHN, FAT PIG (Olivier Award nominated for Best Comedy), SOME GIRL(S), THIS IS HOW IT GOES, WRECKS, FILTHY TALK FOR TROUBLED TIMES, IN A DARK DARK HOUSE, REASONS TO BE PRETTY (Tony Award nominated for Best Play) and THE BREAK OF NOON. In 2011 his play IN A FOREST, DARK AND DEEP premiered in London's West End. LaBute is also the author of Seconds of Pleasure, a collection of short fiction which was published by Grove Atlantic. His films include In the Company of Men (New York Critics' Circle Award for Best First Feature and the Filmmaker Trophy at the Sundance Film Festival), Your Friends and Neighbors, Nurse Betty, Possession, The Shape of Things, a film adaptation of his play of the same title, The Wicker Man, Lakeview Terrace and Death at a Funeral.

  • Bram Stoker

    Abraham "Bram" Stoker (8 November 1847 – 20 April 1912) was an Irish author who is celebrated for his 1897 Gothic horror novel Dracula. In his early years, Stoker worked as a theatre critic for an Irish newspaper and wrote stories as well as commentaries. He also enjoyed travelling, particularly to Cruden Bay where he set two of his novels. During another visit to the English coastal town of Whitby, Stoker drew inspiration for writing Dracula. He died on April 20, 1912 due to Locomotor ataxia and was cremated in north London. Since his death, his magnum opus Dracula has become one of the most well known works in English literature, and the novel has been adapted for numerous films, short stories and plays.

  • Jeff Goode

    Jeff Goode is the award-winning author of THE EIGHT: REINDEER MONOLOGUES and MARLEY'S GHOST and the creator of Disney's animated series American Dragon: Jake Long, as well as many other plays, musicals, and television shows. He is a founding member of the original No Shame Theatre and founding artistic director of No Shame Los Angeles.

  • Qui Nguyen

    Qui Nguyen is a playwright, screenwriter, and Co-Founder of the Obie Award–winning Vampire Cowboys of NYC. His work, known for its innovative use of pop-culture, stage violence, puppetry, and multimedia, has been lauded as "Culturally Savvy Comedy" by The New York Times, "Infectious Fun" by Variety, and "Tour De Force Theatre" by Time Out New York. The Chicago Tribune praised him as a "refreshing, break-the-rules writer" as Time Out Chicago named his play SHE KILLS MONSTERS one of the 10 Best Plays of 2013. Scripts include WAR IS F**KING AWESOME; SHE KILLS MONSTERS (The Flea); KRUNK FU BATTLE BATTLE (East West Players); BIKE WRECK (Ensemble Studio Theatre); TRIAL BY WATER (Ma-Yi Theater); ALIENS VERSUS CHEERLEADERS (Keen Teens); SOUL SAMURAI; THE INEXPLICABLE REDEMPTION OF AGENT G (Ma-Yi Theater & Vampire Cowboys); LUSH VALLEY (HERE); and the critically acclaimed Vampire Cowboys productions of ALICE IN SLASHERLAND; FIGHT GIRL BATTLE WORLD; MEN OF STEEL; and LIVING DEAD IN DENMARK. His scripts are published by Samuel French, Playscripts, and Broadway Play Publishing. Recent honors include being a 2014 Sundance Institute/Time Warner Fellow; a 2014 McCarter/Sallie B. Goodman Fellow; a 2013 Sundance Theatre Lab Fellow; a recipient of a 2013 AATE Distinguished Play Award (She Kills Monsters); a 2012 TCG Young Leader of Color; and receiving 2012 & 2009 GLAAD Media Award nominations for his plays SHE KILLS MONSTERS and SOUL SAMURAI. He is a proud resident artist at New Dramatists, a core member of The Playwrights' Center, an alumnus of Youngblood, and a member of Ensemble Studio Theatre, The Ma-Yi Writers Lab, and the Keen Company New Play Lab. His company, Vampire Cowboys, often credited for being the pioneers of "geek theatre," holds the unique distinction of being the first professional theatre organization to be officially sponsored by NY Comic Con. They've been praised by The Village Voice as "New York's Best Army of Geeks" and are currently in-residence at The New Ohio Theater and IRT.

  • Tom Jacobson

    Tom Jacobson has had more than 80 productions of his plays, including SPERM at Circle X Theatre Company, THE ORANGE GROVE at Playwrights Arena, and the award-winning BUNBURY, TAINTED BLOOD, OUROBOROS and THE FRIENDLY HOUR at The Road Theatre Company. THE TWENTIETH-CENTURY WAY premiered at The Theatre @ Boston Court and the New York International Fringe Festival (five Ovation Award nominations, four Los Angeles Drama Critics' Circle nominations, one GLAAD Award nomination, Fringe Festival Award for Outstanding Production of a Play, PEN Center Award for Drama) and moved Off Broadway to Rattlestick Playwrights Theatre. MAKING PARADISE: THE WEST HOLLYWOOD MUSICAL was produced by Cornerstone Theater Company (Critic's Choice in Back Stage West). He has been a co-literary manager of The Theatre @ Boston Court, a founding member of Playwrights Ink, and a board member of Cornerstone Theater Company and The Theatre @ Boston Court. Most recent productions include the world premieres of THE CHINESE MASSACRE (ANNOTATED) at Circle X and HOUSE OF THE RISING SON at Ensemble Studio Theatre-LA (Critic's Choice in Back Stage West and Los Angeles Times, nominated for a GLAAD Award and winner of two Los Angeles Drama Critics Circle Awards). Film: PRAIRIE SONATA (based on THE FRIENDLY HOUR). Opera: HOPSCOTCH, commissioned by The Industry.

  • Suzy McKee Charnas

    Suzy McKee Charnas was born in Manhattan, received a Bachelor's from Barnard, and a Master's from New York University. In addition to the play VAMPIRE DREAMS, she is the author of numerous published novels and short stories in the genres of science fiction and fantasy.