Do Zombies Dream of Undead Sheep? is a one-man, one-puppet musical journey through the apocalypse. After a ‘catastrophic’ magnitude 1-ish earthquake, the dead are reanimated, unleashing a zombie outbreak. John Butler takes us on this journey using original songs, accompanied by a backing track and live ukulele. The songs are performed against a backdrop of wonderful watercolour style animation projected onto a screen. Musical moments are interspersed with small scenes, often featuring a 2D-hanging puppet as Butler’s costar.
The songs are lyrically entertaining and develop a pleasing story. Some include elements of humour and Butler has an enjoyable voice. They engineer a fun narrative, even if many of the songs sound similar. You may ask, how can one man perform a whole musical by himself? He doesn’t! There are plenty of moments of audience participation which certainly help to engage a Fringe audience. Audiences are informed of their fate at the very beginning and there is a certain tragic inevitability knowing that you are hurtling towards having to sing at the end of the show.
Butler’s puppet is a fantastic element of the production. The puppet plays the role of Butler’s hero/saviour turned lover. It facilitates a wonderful story of two men finding love at the end of the universe. There is a great deal of comedy in the use of a (very-lifeless) puppet to play the living man while the supposedly dead zombies move freely around the screen. While a funny choice, this also poses the question of what actually makes the zombies so different from us? How can a cruel treatment be justified when they are more similar than expected?
These questions are explored through the plot which I found extremely promising. At first the show seems like a surface-level parody about the apocalypse. However, it quickly reveals itself as a well-structured, interesting story with subtle social commentary and sprinklings of political satire all while maintaining the silliness. You shouldn’t take the plot of Do Zombies Dream of Undead Sheep? overly seriously as it is certainly more silly than satire but it would be a mistake to dismiss the messages that are there.
So… do zombies dream of undead sheep?
I still don’t know. The zombies in this musical journey were certainly awake and ensuring that no audience members started counting dream sheep. This show is a great late night watch if you’re looking for a bit of fun. If you ever start contemplating the humanity of the undead, this show is the place for you.
