Serious zombies in Key West

Carolina Culture Blog

23 July 2009

by Jeffrey Day

Sitting outside the Forest Acres Starbucks, Paul Kaufmann, Monica Wyche(left) and Dean Poyner were talking about how early they'd get a start the next day, if anyone needed an air mattress and who would leave who's car where. The three were heading to Key West for a residency and minimal production of Poyner's new play "Homo Apocalyptus."

With them was Chad Henderson, director of the play and carrier of a bad cold. Behind the counter inside, actor Sydney Mitchell was slammed with coffee drinkers and never could take a break to talk. Henderson and Mitchell planned to head South a day after the others once they closed "The Rocky Horror Show," which Henderson directed and in which Mitchell plays Janet.

They'll all be the first theater artists in residence at the Studios at Key West, which invites artists of various sorts in and also operates artists' studios and classes in an old Armory at the end of the continental U.S.

One thing that helped in getting the play and players to Key West is that studios director Eric Holowacz (who has also run arts organizations in Beaufort, S.C., and Wellington, New Zealand) is from Columbia. He andWyche attended Irmo High School together and worked elbow to elbow in a Five Points frozen yogurt shop.

Poyner, (left) who moved from Columbia to Pittsburgh last year, calls "Homo Apocalyptus" an entry into the 'grossly-underdeveloped zombie genre."

Despite that description the play is a serious drama, with a few laughs, about a handful of people who have escaped diseases that have ravaged the earth.

"There's a lot of information out there about surviving something like this,"Poyner said. "It's a psychological thriller."

The characters take refuge in a Key West bar.. Although Poyner was working on a version of the play before the Key West residency developed, setting a play at the end of the world sort of at the end of the world made sense.

"It's also great to do a play in the place where it's set," Poyner said.

The group will work on the show for about two weeks and do one or two public performances.

"The Studios at Key West is only three years old," said Holowacz, "and with a lot of our developments, I tend to fashion them as a pilot programs first, as trials that can be tested, evaluated, adjusted.

Wyche and Kaufmann are well-known actors in Columbia, having starred in many plays, most recently as the leads in "Dangerous Liaisons" at Workshop Theatre. Henderson has directed plays at Trustus and Mitchell is an emerging actor who has done several significant roles.

Poyner, who is at Carnegie Mellon University earning his master of fine arts degree, has had a great run recently.

Last year he won the 2008 Helford Prize in Drama ($10,000) for his play "Losing Sleep." Set in a sleep disorder clinic, the play will be produced in New York by the American Theatre of Actors in August. His play "Paradise Key" was selected by Trustus Theatre as winner of its new play competition; it will have a staged reading there Aug. 15 and get a full production next summer. It is also about a disease that could take on epidemic proportions. If that's not enough, Poyner has also worked a lot as an actor, playing opposite Wyche in "Bug" and in "Take Me Out," both at Trustus.

During the meeting at the coffee shop, Poyner handed script changes around the table. They'll have plenty of time to study them - Key West is about a 14 hour drive from Columbia.