In the Fall of 2024, the theatre program of Coffee County Central High School will be putting on its production of George Romero’s “Night of The Living Dead”, the first show of its kind to be put on by the school’s theatre program. Because of these new grounds, quite a few questions have been raised about how exactly the director, Wesley Rutledge, plans on approaching these new challenges.
When asked what his biggest challenge would be with a show of this nature, Rutledge responded, “It’s gonna be tech, this is gonna be one of those shows with a lot of sound and light cues. Special effects stuff as well.”
Later on, when posed with the question of how he was feeling about auditions being so close, Rutledge states, “I’m probably more excited than anything else. I’m more than excited to get this going.”
When he was asked about his stance on zombie-related media, and whether or not he was familiar with both the source material for the show, as well as similar pieces of work, Rutledge responded, “Overall, I’m a zombie fan. I will say I got a little burnt out during The Walking Dead. I still enjoy Night of The Living Dead, it was what invented what we know as zombies.”
When he was asked his feelings about casting, specifically whether or not he was confident in his ability to cast the show, Rutledge responded with, “That’s why I’m a little more excited. After a break from theatre, this year is my return to theatre, there may be more people auditioning than we can cast.”
When he was asked about his favorite scene in the show, he said he couldn’t quite pick, claiming, “ I can’t say there are one I’m not looking forward to. There might be some more tech-heavy than others. As for a favorite scene, I don’t wanna give anything away, but I love how the first act of the play has some changes but still follows the movie. I’m most excited for Act II.”
Rutledge was asked whether or not everyone who auditioned would be cast, in response, he would explain, “Normally, Higdon and I try our best to cast everyone we can. This year, it’s most likely gonna be a wait-and-see. This is not a definitive answer, but this probably isn’t gonna be like a show where you audition and we try to squeeze you in. Another factor, and I hate to say this is a factor, but the zombies aren’t constantly there. The biggest thing I’ll be honest about is I’m trying to be budget conscious, I don’t have a budget for everyone that will try to audition.”
Finally, Rutledge was asked if he was under the impression that the show would be enjoyable and he responded, “If you’re a fan of the movie, you’ll love it. I’ll say this, people may or may not realize, but when this movie was released it was public domain. So actually, there’s multiple stage adaptations of this. However, the one we’re doing, is the only one actually endorsed by George Romero himself. There are around two or three other versions. This is new frontier for Higdon and I. This might be our first show with gore/fake blood on the stage.”
George Romero’s “Night of The Living Dead” opens in early November, and the theatre program highly encourages those interested in this unique production to come to see it on any of the six show dates.
