At this year’s New York Fringe Festival, we had the chance to compare two book-to-play adaptations by the same author. Joyce Carol Oates’ haunting, psychological horror stories would seemingly make for good theater, and at the Fringe, Bill Connington’s Zombie and Justin Swain and Jess McLeod’s The Corn Maiden provided alternate glimpses of how to approach such a task. In my estimate, the former adaptation, which focused more on the individual and the psychological realm, succeeded more than the latter, which took a more stagy, technological approach, in which much of the complexity got lost. That being said, there was still a lot to take from both productions, and the chance to compare them is a rare privilege.
Zombie would seem to be the less theatrical of the two works, as it focuses on the internal dialogue of a convicted sex offender and deeply disturbed serial killer in the vein of Jeffrey Dahmer. Connington’s adaptation is smart to stick with a monologue, but adds just enough theatricality, with a chess board and a brilliantly ghoulish blow-up doll, to prevent the text from trumping the stage. Connington, who also starred as the killer, Quentin P., gave a legitimately frightening turn - with a flawless upper Midwest accent - of a man who, alienated from his community and his family, and without any outlet for his sexual and human needs (including a need to dominate), aims to create a "Zombie" in the form of a homemade lobotomized slave.
Of course, Quentin botches most of his lobotomies, and here is where his rage and violent tendencies truly show themselves. There’s no doubting that Quentin is psychotic, unfit for society, and a danger to those around him. What is in question, both in the play and the novella, is just how far Quentin’s psychology and psychohistory strays from that of a normal, sane individual, and how much of his twistedness is innate as opposed to society’s doing. The questions are left intentionally ambiguous, and some were overwhelmed by the gross, horrific aspects of Zombie’s text and staging. But unlike your standard horror schlock, there was enough intelligence here to befit a Nobel Prize finalist.
While The Corn Maiden is certainly a more expansive production, incorporating many more theatrical techniques, to me it seemed less enthralling and shallower than its smaller, more modest counterpart. The Corn Maiden focuses on a similar theme to Zombie's: a deeply disturbed individual kidnapping and attempting to kill an innocent victim for a spiritual goal unacceptable in today’s world. But the real heart of the story, the spiritual identification of early-teen girls with ancient American Indian practices, is either diluted with other plot elements or simplified to the point where it starts to feel cheap.
.jpg?t=20120209092158)
Article comments