Tyler Boydston
Managing Editor
Blood and gore reached the audience in a comedic display brought about during showings of “Evil Dead: The Musical” throughout the month of October.
“Evil Dead: The Musical” is a play based on the horror film franchise with a cult following starring Bruce Campbell, and directed by Sam Raimi, who also directed the “Spider-Man” trilogy.
I will warn possible viewers, however, that the play is very much R-rated: there is strong language throughout, and quite a few sexual innuendos. I would ask people not to bring children to the play.
The play has been portrayed in Oklahoma as a part of Drumright’s “Haunted Forest” since 2010, when a friend of mine had just introduced me to the fact that there was a musical. Once I found out that there was going to be one in Oklahoma, I immediately had to go watch it.
Having some previous experience with this play (back in 2010 and again in 2011), I was excited to see if things would be done a little bit differently this year, and I must say, I was impressed.
I sat in the “Extreme Splatter Zone” for the play, which was comprised of the first three rows. Throughout the play, the performers and crew pelt audience members in the “Extreme Splatter Zone” with faux blood using buckets, water guns and bottles.
Despite the coldness of the night, being drenched in fake blood was still a recipe for an incredibly fun night.
Besides the “Extreme Splatter Zone” was the “Splatter Zone,” which would get guests occasionally with fake blood, and then the regular seating toward the back for guests who wanted to avoid the gore all together.
The play isn’t all about the blood, though, as the humor and in-jokes throughout make it a fun enough time for the viewers who aren’t sitting in the splatter zone.
I would recommend highly for people who want to see this musical to first see the campy horror films that they are based on so they will not be completely lost to the story of the play, though it is not essential in order to have a fun time while watching. If you haven’t seen the films yet and you see the musical, you’ll still laugh and you’ll still have a good time, but the additional viewing is something that comes highly recommended.
The play also makes use of quite a bit of pop culture references (they even poked a little fun at the recent “Evil Dead” remake that came out this past year), and there are a few references to “Rocky Horror Picture Show,” another movie with a large cult following.
Another thing I was happy to see upon watching this for the third time was plenty of different jokes and interpretations of jokes throughout the play. From the first year to the second I saw a few changes here and there, both in cast and in scenes, and seeing it this year was almost a completely different experience. There were a few casting changes, but everyone knocked it out of the park. The returning actors were all still fantastic in their roles and I could tell that they had become very familiar with the play over the course of the past four years, and the newcomers all seemed to be welcomed additions to an already great cast. There was not a wink link in the group.
What makes “Evil Dead: The Musical” really great, though, is the audience participation that is involved in the play. Each time I’ve gone to see it, there have been plenty of other “Evil Dead” fans there, and any time one of Ash’s key catchphrases was uttered in the play, the crowd went wild. Other than that, though, the cast acts toward the audience. Considering that they have to spray so many people with fake blood, that’s to be expected, but when they have people going out through the crowd before the show, during intermission and even after the show in order to catch people off guard with fake blood and make a few jokes, it becomes even more evident that they want the audience to get the most fun out of the event as possible.
Overall, I would highly recommend “Evil Dead: The Musical” to anyone who is a fan of the horror genre, or anyone who would want to have a fun night out in the middle of the country. It may be hard to locate the “Boomstick Theater,” as fans have come to call the theater where the play is shown, but it’s most certainly one of the most fun theater experiences I’ve ever gotten to witness and be a part.