The dead don't stay dead down here.....

Hello all. Sorry its been a while since I posted anything, been busy with stuff. Just got back from Johor where a good friend was walking the plank of marriage. While I sat and watched my friend take the next big step in his life, I couldn't help but be amused with the fact that there I was, humbled and moved by the intricacies of this beautiful, traditional Malay wedding (my first) and yet back home I was directing a horror love story that in some ways borders on necrophilia. Hehehe, life is weird.

As I've said before, I've been wanting to do a horror play for quite some time now. I've loved horror films ever since I was a kid. I loved to be scared and as the years have gone by, I've come to the conclusion that next to comedy, horror is probably one of the hardest genres to pull off. Seriously guys, and I'm talking to the horror buffs here, when was the last time you saw a horror film that really scared the shit out of you? Think about it for a second, I'm sure you'll agree that really scary horror films are far and few in between. Lately there's been some decent ones- The 'Saw' films are kinda cool, 'Cabin Fever' and 'Hostel' were fucked up and from what I hear, 'Wolf Creek' is super scary. But personally, I really miss the classics. Y'know, like 'Rosemary's Baby', 'The Omen' (The original, not the piece of dogshit remake), 'The Exorcist' but having said that, I did enjoy some of the horror that came out of the cocaine snorting 80's like 'Halloween'(The first one), 'Nightmare on Elm Street'(Also the first one), 'Friday The 13th' (Bid titty virgins getting hacked up by a guy in a hockey mask.....what's not to love?) and 'Hellraiser'(Which featured one of the coolest looking screen maniacs ever- Pinhead) If anything killed the respect I had for some of these films, it was the mediocre sequels they spawned.

But where was I? Oh yeah, horror is one tough genre to pull off. It isn't just about blood and gore. Having a lot of blood and guts might gross people out but it doesn't necesarrily scare them. In that regard, drama is easy because most times you're dealing with easily identifiable subject matter. For example, you're watching a play where a father and son get into an argument and the son ends some saying some really hurtful shit to the father, then leaves. We start getting chocked up because we start thinking about something hurtful we might have said to our fathers. The next scene comes and its ten years later and son has returned and the father is dead. Then its all over cos we start getting scared shitless that our father might be dead when we get home so we start thinking about how much we'd regret our foolish words and the tears start flowing. No such scene in the horror genre I'm afraid. And thank God, cos we're not here to make you cry and feel all gooey. We're here to hopefully scare the crap out of you and have you leave the theatre saying things like "Man, that was fucked up!" or "I think I'm gonna be sick!" or "Dude, that chick with all the stich-work on her face was fucking psycho!" or "Fucking 'A', let's watch that shit again!!"

With Frankenstein in Love, what we hope to achieve is a balance between all out in your face blood and guts horror, intense creepiness, macabre humour, subtle drama and tragic romance. Yeah, I know how impossible that sounds but fuck it, you're only young and stupid once in your life. I may not have the balls to do this in a few years so might as well be now. We started blocking the opening scene of the play last night after a week of read-throughs and I gotta say (and Patrick and Michael will second this), you've never seen a play with a opening scene like this. Trust me, we got some crazy, fucked up shit in store for you. I've always believed that the first five minutes of a play is the most crucial. You've gotta make it clear to your audience what they've come to see, you gotta set the tone and mood of the piece. Once you get that right, the audience will stay with it. Of course you gotta make sure the rest of your shows rocks or there'll be hell to pay but the first five minutes goes a long way in keeping them locked in for the next hour and fifty five.......or maybe I'm just talking out of my ass.

We finish off the blocking for Scene One tonight which I'm particularly excited about cos we'll be doing El Coco's (Rashid) entrance. I just think its a really cool entrance. Understated, yet powerful at the same time. You really get a sense of the duality of the character. There's a creepy combination of murderer and saviour with this character that I love. I'm looking forward to seeing what Rashid does with it. And all that aside, I'm just pumped to see Rashid tackle something other than comedy for a change. I love it when actors take on roles we're not used to seeing them do, just makes the experience all the more rich.

Well, that's all for now. I'll be back again soon to give my usual shpiel on how I came to cast the show. Till then, take care.

Peace.