I looked down at my buzzing phone only to see that it was a blocked caller.
Hello?
Is this Jen Handley? said a very militaristic, slightly robotic-sounding male voice.
Its actually Gen with a hard g.
Long, awkward pause.
Well Im in the military sirI just assumed it was General.
Im OK with General, I said. Who am I speaking to?
It doesnt matter, the voice replied. He sounded impatient. General Handley, I am calling to give you the coordinates of the rendezvous point for tomorrow.
This was my introduction to The Zombie Syndrome, an interactive, live-action performance that takes participants on zombie-themed adventure through the streets of Vancouver. Using smartphones, believable actors and a flexible plotline, this unconventional form of theatre is the vision of director-writer Andy Thompson, who wanted to incorporate technology into live theatre, creating a one-of-a-kind show for the audience.
I wanted to create an event that is as engaging and as exciting and as fun as possible for the audience while also taking theatre to new places with technology, Thompson says.
Before I had rendezvoused with my fellow scientists, I was instructed to download an application on my iPhone that would scan and read QR (quick response) codes. The codes would play an integral part in guiding the group to the different locations in The Zombie Syndrome world.
This show is put on by a talented group of roughly 30 actors, makeup artists and production team members working together to keep the fantasy believable and moving forward. One of the biggest challenges for the theatre team is the organic, choose-your-own-adventure quality of the show. As scientists looking for a cure for the zombie outbreak, there were opportunities for our team to make decisions, pushing the plotline in different directions and forcing the actors to improvise in the moment according to how we interacted with the characters.
That makes it challenging to rehearse, but its quite rewarding in the end, says Thompson, who plays an important character in the story.
So why are zombies the popular type of monster right now?
Im not sure why that is, he says. But zombies are definitely kicking the vampires asses right now.
The Zombie Syndrome has been held over until Nov. 3 with five shows a day beginning in a secret location in downtown Vancouver. Tickets can be purchased at .
