Acting Out! to perform ‘Night of the Living Dead'

Heart beating uncontrollably and panting to catch her breath, Barbara stands in shock in the middle of an abandoned rural farmhouse. This is the only shelter she could find to protect herself from the zombies awaiting outside. Panicked and frightened, Barbara finds six other people hiding inside the house. She realizes that some way, somehow they will have to fight for their survival against these creatures. End scene.

Acting Out!, a theater company in Jackson, will perform its version of George Romero's 1968 film "Night of the Living Dead" at 7 p.m. Oct. 17 and 18 at the Capaha Park band shell. This will be the second year Acting Out! will perform "Night of the Living Dead."

"The show is about seven strangers that end up in this abandoned farmhouse, and they're fighting for survival," director Melissa Jennings said. "Tensions are high. It's kind of a battle of who's in charge and what plan is the best and things like that."

A number of the actors and actresses are returning members of the cast and will play roles different from those they had in last year's show, which has allowed for reduced preparation time, Jennings said.

"The thing about this show is since we had so many returning actors we didn't have to find as many, so even though they're playing different parts, they still know the show really well and things like that," Jennings said. "So we didn't need as long of a rehearsal practice. We've been in rehearsals for three weeks."

Jessica Emery, a Southeast Missouri State University alumna, is a member of Acting Out! and will be playing the role of Barbara.

"She's one of the first characters that you see, and she's pretty important," Emery said. "You see her a lot. She's always on stage. She doesn't say much, but she's always on stage."

Emery graduated from Southeast in the spring after majoring in theater and has participated in previous Acting Out! shows as well as being an assistant stage manager and lighting tech, she said.

Sophomore Amanda Lawrence will play Jenny in "Night of the Living Dead." In Romero's film, the character is Johnny, but in Acting Out!'s version, it was changed to Jenny.

"She is the sister of Barbara," Lawrence said. "She is very cynical, playful. She's not very religious. At the beginning of the play, they're visiting a grave and Barbara kneels down to pray and she's like, ‘Aw, come on let's not do that now. I just want to get home. We drove so long to get here,' and she's pretty much like a laid-back, low-key kind of person."

A unique aspect to this year's performance will be the setting. Last year, Acting Out! performed "Night of the Living Dead" in Jackson, but this year's location will provide a different audience experience.

"The way the stage is set up actually is pretty intimate," Jennings said. "We haven't done a show at the Cape band shell yet, so I'm not exactly sure how this is going to work, but it just seems really intimate. It's not an actual stage, so everybody is on the same level as the audience, so I think that they'll really feel like they're in the house with these people just because it is a smaller space so you can get right into it."

However, Jennings does provide a word of caution to families bringing younger children to the show.

"We have zombies milling about the audience," Jennings said. "So if that freaks people out, be warned that there is close interaction with zombies."

Audience members are encouraged to bring seating and snacks and beverages. Tickets are $5 and may be purchased at the door or in advance by emailing actingoutsemo@gmail.com or through brownpapertickets.com/event/857819.