REVIEW: ZOMBIEGATE by Matthew Gabrielli at Theatre503 1 – 19 November 2022

‘witty, satirical debut with fabulous puppets’ ★★★ ½

It’s difficult to imagine life before the Internet or when most lives weren’t mediated through mobile phone screens. These online devices are also palm-sized theatres containing the lightest and darkest of human motivation and desire. It’s where a selfie can be the stuff of tragedy or a single tweet epic in scope. This largely lawless realm and specifically murky territory of online trolls, is the inspiration for Mathew Gabrielli’s witty, satirical debut ZOMBIEGATE directed by Julian Bruton and delighting audiences above The Latchmere in SW11

When Sophie (Ebony Jonelle) and Jamie (George Howard) a couple of carefree twenty-somethings upload a selfie, it inadvertently sets off a chain of events in both the digital and physical realms. Sophie didn’t realise they were standing in front of a memorial and to all the blank eyes and baying moralizers, the undead pair dressed as Zombies, seem to mock the memory of a dead child. When they find themselves trolled and cancelled, our lead characters are forced to question their relationship with each other, the internet and the world around them, and arrive at very different conclusions.

The use of puppetry to convey the malice of online persecutors is a stroke of brilliance and Mr. Punch, the most persistent and offensive troll, self-proclaimed ‘Lord of Misrule’ and ‘agent of chaos’ steals the show. Sneeringly and gratingly performed to compelling effect by Chand Martinez, he is joined by Virginia Thomson, the voice and puppet master of Judy and Clown.  These fiendish characters, created by Aled Williams with puppetry direction by Pheobe Hyder, are fabulous specimens and will not be forgotten in a hurry.

The juxtaposition of these garish sideshow classics - and they are all here, the plodding policeman, town crier, baby, crocodile and sausages - with the opaque intangibility of internet technologies is impressive.  The old-fashioned Punch & Judy show, itself often threatened with cancellation because of its perceived misogyny and violence, makes for a resonant personification of nasty internet culture where people use hashtags instead of sticks and character assassinations and hate crimes occur on a daily basis.  

Ironically, though the use of puppetry, ZOMBIEGATE manages to draw attention to the human dimension of the Internet. How its anonymity and public glare influences behaviors, how the need to be liked and accepted by others can rub up against more negative emotions of envy or revenge. The audience is reminded of the Wizard in Oz and how many sad or lonely individuals must sit behind screens seeking connection or attention. Labelling humans as trolls is the same as labelling murderers as monsters. It negates the responsibility of others to understand why people do what they do.  But Zombiegate is a pertinent reminder that trolls are human too - even when they come in puppet form.

Photography: Danny Kaan

Ameena Hamid Productions and Theatre503 presents:

ZOMBIEGATE

Written by Matthew Gabrielli | Directed by Julian Bruton

1 November – 19 November 2022

Theatre503, 503 Battersea Park Road, London SW11 3BW

020 7978 7040 https://theatre503.com/whats-on/zombiegate-2/

DIRECTOR

Julian Bruton

MOVEMENT AND PUPPETRY DIRECTOR

Phoebe Hyder

SET & COSTUME DESIGNER

Delyth Evans

PUPPET MAKER

Aled Williams

LIGHTING DESIGNER

Danny Vavrečka

SOUND DESIGNER

Hattie North

CAST

SOPHIE

Ebony Jonelle

JAMIE

George Howard

TONY/SIMON

Chand Martinez

JENNIFER/DANIELLE

Virginia Thompson

@ahamidprods | #503Zombiegate | ameenahamidproductions.com

Reviewed by Nilgin Yusuf

An experienced author, lecturer and journalist (ex-Sunday Times, Daily Telegraph and ELLE) Nilgin is developing her first full-length stage play, supported by Mrs.C’s Collective and the Arts Council