Zombies are nothing new to Kaimuki. Check out those pasty middle-aged guys buying "action figures" in the collectibles shops, or ladies with their life belongings in a shopping cart, or any teenager sneaking a smoke in a bus stop. The hillside alleys of Kaimuki are chockablock with the undead. Zombies are roaming
Kaimuki’s Prosperity CornerBy Burl Burlingame
bburlingame@starbulletin.comEven so, the ghosts-that-walk are out in force starting today at Prosperity Corner, the New-Agey, incense-sniffing, crystal-gazing, pyramid-wearing, dragon-digging, Elf Palace just off Waialae Boulevard.
Prosperity Corner and the Theatricus experimental theater company are presenting a play in the shop, "The Zombies of Montrose," a one-act satire by noted science-fiction author James Morrow, and it's so in-the-round that the proscenium "fourth wall" between audience and actors not only disappears, the other three walls of the stage are chucked out as well.
Which is just the way producer/director Brett Joubert likes it. From staging cutting-edge science-fiction theater in New Jersey and New York to creating immersive theatrical experiences in California -- "We did 'Robin Hood' in the Oakland Hills! Sixty actors, plus horses, dancers and jugglers! I directed with a bullhorn!" -- Joubert, 37, has settled in Honolulu, determined to pursue his own, inclusive vision of theater, in which the scrim between stage and seating is rent decisively.
His day job currently consists of "getting laid off -- until last week, I did graphics for a travel company. In theater, I prefer directing, but occasionally I'll act as well. You don't really make any money in theater, particularly when you put on free productions. But what fun!"
This is Joubert's third collaboration with shop owner DJ Colbert, who with Nika Taittlinger runs Prosperity Corner, which includes a massage area and noted makeup artist Bryan Furer's studio. Furer is having a ball turning actors into zombies.
"Our patrons range from 18 to, oh, 60," said Colbert. "They like to dress up themselves in costumes, even two weeks before Halloween."
Where: Prosperity Corner, 1151 12th Ave. 'The Zombies of Montrose'
When: 7:30 and 9 p.m. today, tomorrow, next Friday, and Oct. 27 and 29
Admission: Free
Call: 732-8870 or 734-8237
"'Rocky Horror' folks," suggested Furer.
"The store is appealing because in here there's no wrong, no right, no indifference," continued Colbert. "It has crystals. It's warm and safe, and there's no one to judge you. For lack of a better name, call it a metaphysical store. But what it really is is everything we love, including movies and massage.
"We're kind of like the two aunties who run a curiosity shop. For curious people! When we first put on a play, people said, 'You're insane.' After it ran, people said, 'When's the NEXT one?'"
"The Zombies of Montrose" was donated by Morrow, who knew Joubert in New York. "I pulled the script out and reread it, and it's really funny. Takes place in one act in a living room, so it's ideal for the store. You don't really see a lot of science fiction on stage, which is too bad," said Joubert. His Honolulu shows have followed the same groove -- a horror piece inspired by Anne "Interview with the Vampire" Rice's writings, a Christmas piece inspired by L. Frank "Wizard of Oz" Baum, and an original piece by Joubert called "Beneath the Dragon's Wing."
The Christmas show featured canucks, furry creatures who tend reindeers. Furer's makeup caused a minor stir when a little girl in the audience was so taken with the canucks that she began growling at them.
"My goal in theater in to hold up a mirror to the audience, to immerse them. Being right in the proximity of the actors brings great energy. Not as emotionally safe as sitting comfortably in a huge theater, watching the stage, but hey, imagine the memories ..."
Imagine the memories that little girl who growled at the canucks will have. Joubert's eyes lit up. "She'll never forget that moment! That's theater!"
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