Three-headed dinosaurs. Slime creatures from another planet. Time-travelling scientists. All of the above figure in Ramshackle Theatre\u2019s Sci-Fi Double Feature, and if it sounds like the stuff of long-ago drive-in movies, that\u2019s the point. Calling from a break during technical rehearsals at the National Arts Centre in Ottawa, Brian Fidler, who created the show with Edward Westerhuis, says his initial inspiration came from Plan 9 From Outer Space and its ilk.<\/p>\n
\u201cI was doing research for another show, and I watched a whole slew of B-movies from the 1950s and 1960s,\u201d Fidler says. \u201cAnd I was really struck by their connection to the world of puppetry\u2014just how crappy they looked, and how they must have had to hire someone, a puppeteer, to make a cardboard or papier-m\u00e2ch\u00e9 rocket and hang a piece of string off of it, and pull it across the screen. So I started thinking about everything that had gone into making those early sci-fi movies, and that was the origin of the idea of putting it on the stage and having the audience get to peek behind the curtain of a sci-fi movie and see how it all works.\u201d<\/p>\n
In Sci-Fi Double Feature, Fidler and assistant puppeteer Claire Ness manipulate cardboard-cutout puppets while Westerhuis shoots the action, creating a one-off movie (with original music and sound design by Jordy Walker). Audience members can watch the story projected on a screen, but they can also see it being performed in front of them.<\/p>\n
\u201cInitially, I had sort of thought about the camera staying static, and perhaps moving in and out,\u201d Fidler says. \u201cBut Edward\u2019s a pretty energetic guy, and when he came onboard he started moving around with the camera, so it\u2019s a full film in which the photographer is moving and getting different angles and shots.\u201d<\/p>\n
As the title indicates, there are two separate stories, or features. \u201cThe first feature is called Attack of the Slime-O-Trons,\u201d Westerhuis says. \u201cThat\u2019s about a benevolent royal family on the planet of Hasbro, and they make board games. They make the game Trouble, and they fashion the architecture of the game after [the inhabitants of] their neighbour planet, the Slime-O-Trons.\u201d<\/p>\n
In order to breathe the air of their home world, the Slime-O-Trons have evolved an air bladder, which Hasbro\u2019s royals use as the model for their game\u2019s Pop-O-Matic bubble. \u201cSo the Slime-O-Trons are offended, and they attack them,\u201d Westerhuis continues. \u201cThe family escapes for Earth, where they are followed, and then the aliens attack Earth. But the core of that story is two intergalactic lovers who fall in love and have to fight off their enemies before they can be united.\u201d<\/p>\n
In the second feature, Last Day on Earth, a professor finds what he is convinced is fossil evidence of a three-headed dino he calls the Tri-Rex. Mocked by his fellow academics, he travels back in time with his dog in order to find definitive proof, only to arrive minutes before an impending mass extinction.<\/p>\n
Ramshackle is performing Sci-Fi Double Feature as part of the rEvolver Theatre Festival, a presentation of Upintheair Theatre, the company behind the Walking Fish and Neanderthal Arts fests. This marks a rare foray into the world of kid-friendly fare for Upintheair.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe show was kind of written for adults, but it has a strong appeal for kids, so as a result we do midnight shows that have sold out and kids\u2019 matinees that have sold out,\u201d Westerhuis notes. \u201cI usually describe it as a true all-ages kind of a show. It looks really attractive for kids, but most adults\u2014hipsters, young people, all ages\u2014are really into the show.\u201d<\/p>\n
In other words, Sci-Fi Double Feature\u2014which includes animated shorts screened before the show and during the intermission\u2014is not intended to be a typical night out at the theatre.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe have free popcorn at the venue, and we encourage people to dress up in sci-fi regalia or costumes,\u201d Westerhuis says. \u201cSo that\u2019s the atmosphere that we try to create and inspire people to come out for.\u201d<\/p>\n
Ramshackle Theatre presents Sci-Fi Double Feature from Tuesday to next Saturday (May 14 to 18) at the Cultch, as part of the rEvolver Theatre Festival.