Buy Your Tickets Now For 'Z is for...Zombie!'

From Synergy Theater: Synergy Theater, the Bay Area home for comedy improvisation, is mindlessly lurching its way towards the Lesher Center for the Arts with its Halloween spectacular, Z is for…Zombie: An Improvised Zombie Apocalypse!

Stacey Matthews-Winn (left) and Lynn Shields (right) battle it out in Synergy Theater’s First Draft, a two-act improvised play completely at the mercy of audience suggestions. Coming to The Big Room at Lamorinda Music, 81 Lafayette Circle, on August 16, 2014 at 8:00 pm.

Improv comedy company Synergy Theater is invading the Lesher Center for the Arts, at 1601 Civic Drive, Walnut Creek, with its madcap improvised horror spoof, Z is for…Zombie: An Improvised Zombie Apocalypse! on Thursday – Saturday, October 19 – 21 at 8:15 pm and on Sunday, October 22, at 3:15 pm. With an expanded schedule of performances, this locally-grown improv comedy company is making its mark at the high-profile regional arts center.

“In Z is for…Zombie,” explains Synergy Theater’s Artistic Director, Kenn Adams, “some of the characters are regular townsfolk, and others are shape-shifting zombies from space who have killed, eaten, and taken the form of their unsuspecting victims. When the story begins, nobody knows who is still human and who has been turned into a zombie--not even the cast! So, all through the show, the characters are trying to stay alive when, at any moment, the person they trust the most might suddenly go zombie and suck out their brains.”

“It’s really a kick,” says long-time company member Lynn Shields, “because the cast and the audience are all playing the game at the same time: trying to figure out who’s telling the truth and who’s really a zombie.”

“It’s incredibly funny,” adds Synergy veteran Ben Weddell. “It’s part horror movie spoof, part improv comedy show, and part reality television. Who will be the last human improviser standing!?”

Synergy Theater brings Z is for…Zombie: An Improvised Zombie Apocalypse! to the Lesher Center for the Arts on Thursday – Saturday, October 19 through October 21, 2017 at 8:15 pm and on Sunday, October 22, 2017 at 3:15 pm.

Kenn Adams, Artistic Director, has over 25 years of experience as a professional improviser and is the author of the book How to Improvise a Full-Length Play: The Art of Spontaneous Theater. He began his career in New York City as a performing member of Freestyle Repertory Theater, aka TheaterSports New York. With FRT, Kenn performed TheaterSports on New York City's famed Theater Row for ten years. During this time, he created the well-known short-form improv games Sit, Stand and Kneel and Ding/Buzz (or The Family Dinner). Both of those games have become staples of the short-form improv stage and were featured regularly on the popular television shows Whose Line is it Anyway? and Trust Us With Your Life. Kenn also created The Story Spine, a simple tool for learning and practicing the fundamentals of improvisational storytelling. The Story Spine has been embraced by improvisers, writers, directors and instructors the world over.

Where: The Lesher Center for the Arts, George & Sonja Vukasin Theatre, 1601 Civic Drive, Walnut Creek, CA 94596

When: Thursday - Saturday, October 19 – October 21, 2017 at 8:15 pm; Sunday, October 22, 2017 at 3:15 pm

Tickets: $20.00 Buy online at www.lesherartscenter.org or by phone at (925) 943-7469

Images via Synergy Theater:

(Image 1) Zombies: (from left to right) Kenn Adams, Ben Piper, Lynn Shields

(Image 2) Dewey eating face: Chris Dewey

(Image 3) Justin eating Andrew: (from left to right) Justin Carns, Andrew Manzella

(Image 4) Justin demon: (from left to right) Justin Carns, Andrew Manzella