Tribe of Fools Brings ZOMBIES...WITH GUNS to Philadelphia Fringe Festival Tonight

Philadelphia Fringe Festival regulars, Tribe of Fools (TOF), will mount a brand new show, Zombies... with Guns at the Philadelphia Fringe Festival in 2015. Zombies... with Guns is set in a post-apocalyptic City of Brotherly Love and follows a group of humans trying to non-violently ward off zombie attacks. However, not all of the humans believe that non-violence is the best method of survival. The show runs tonight, September 4, through September 13 at the Church of the Crucifixion, 620 S 8th St, performance times vary. Tickets cost $15 - $25 and are available at www.fringearts.com.

Zombies... with Guns is the first play created by TOF since returning to Philadelphia after finishing as finalists on TruTV's hit show Fake Off. Previously, the gang from TOF tackled sexuality and identity with their breakout hit, Heavy Metal Dance Fag, violence with their daring parkour spectacular, Antihero and love with last year's smash hit Two Street.

In a post-zombie-apocalypse a small group of humans are struggling to survive. Rent, the leader of the human group, has locked up all the humans' guns and developed a controversial new method of non-violent measures to de-escalate zombie attacks that involves singing Bob Marley. Not everyone, however, believe that this method works. When a faction of humans demand that violence be used to combat violence the group begins falling apart.

In Zombies... with Guns, TOF are exploring the Pandora's box of guns and violence. "Unfortunately, guns are here to stay," says director Peter Smith. "The question now is, who should be allowed to have guns? Obviously the good guys should have guns but how do we know who the good guys are?"

The play revolves around whether or not the group of surviving humans should use guns preemptively to kill zombies, as a last resort or even at all. Each character has specific points of view on how guns should be used, what is considered safe and who should be allowed to have them.

The reason TOF decided to use zombies was to look at our attitudes around guns and other people. Artistic Director Terry Brennan said "Whenever you see zombies in movies or TV they act as this consequence-free bad guy. You can kill thousands of zombies and you never have to feel bad. So we decided to make our zombies funny. They're actually characters, not just a force to be beaten back - because in life there's no such thing as a consequence-free shooting." The play follows the journeys of both the humans and the zombies treating each group with similar amounts of humanity. The zombies speak in their own grunted language which is part gibberish and part silent movie slapstick. The play features TOF's signature blend of physical comedy and parkour and combines smart, poignant observations with light-hearted comic antics.

Zombies... With Guns is directed by TOF company member Peter Smith. This marks the first time since Heavy Metal Dance Fag that Artistic Director Terry Brennan hasn't directed. Rent and Lane, the play's two leads are played by Kyle Yackoski and Artistic Director Terry Brennan. Zachary Chiero and Tara Demmy play two of the unstoppable and wickedly funny zombies and Lauren Harries and Arlen Hancock round out the human camp. The show is written by Terry Brennan, Nick Mazzuca and Peter Smith. Paul Kuhn, Artistic Director of Curio Theatre Company is designing the set. Becca Austin is designing the costumes. Joshua Boden is the Sound Designer. Robin Stamey is the Lighting Designer. Christopher Haig is handling props.

Performance Schedule
Sept 4 at 8 p.m.

Sept 5 at 8 p.m.

Sept 5 at 10:30 p.m.

Sept 6 at 6 p.m.

Sept 6 at 8:30 p.m.

Sept 7 at 8 p.m.

Sept 9 at 6 p.m.

Sept 9 at 8:30 p.m.

Sept 10 at 8pm

Sept 11 at 8pm

Sept 11 at 10:30pm

Sept 12 at 8pm

About Tribe of Fools
Tribe of Fools is a physical theatre company formed at The Dell'Arte International School of Physical Theatre and has been creating original work in Philadelphia since 2003. Tribe of Fools began in Germantown in 2003 and moved to South Philly in 2004. Tribe of Fools is Terry Brennan, Zachary Chiero, and Peter Smith. Tribe of Fools signature physical stylization propelled them to the finals in TruTV's hit show Fake Off and has earned them the title of "stylish" and "a fascinating young physical theatre company with a bright future" from Philadelphia Weekly and "The Best Surprise of 2007" from The Philadelphia Metro. In twelve years Tribe of Fools has created original pieces; Including Armageddon at the Mushroom Village which Phawker.com said "danced its way through bitterness and despair to and end that makes Pink Floyd's wall look like Steamboat Willie," Heavy Metal Dance Fag which was called "the big deal, dark horse hit of the Fringe" by the Philadelphia Inquirer, and most recently Two Street in which Newsworks.org proclaimed "No group plumbs the social culture of Philadelphia the way Tribe of Fools does."

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