Review: WHEN THE DEAD ARRIVED at the Milnerton Playhouse Poses Dark Questions about Humanity

All I knew when I stepped into the theatre to see WHEN THE DEAD ARRIVED was that it included a warning that the show contained blood – a lot of blood. As a rule, I’m a sensitive viewer and I stay away from anything even slightly horror related. Suffice to say, I went in knowing that this production was out of my comfort zone.

Despite my fears, I was really impressed with many aspects of the show. First, the fact that this is an original piece of theatre, penned by Werner Asher Steffen who also plays John. It is not often that one sees original works on our community theatre stages and when they deliver, they are a treat.

Without giving too much away, the plot revolves around some kind of apocalyptic event that causes human beings to morph into zombie-like beings – or, as our characters refer to them – ‘The Dead’. These creatures seek out live humans to consume and, once bitten, the victims morph into The Dead themselves. I really like that the play takes place in real time, as we observe three characters attempting to take refuge in a deserted office. Since all the action takes place here, and since there are only three ‘human’ characters (surrounded by various members of The Dead, this play is a study in human relationships, our humanity (or the lack thereof), and our will to survive.

The set is perfect and, again, without saying more, makes wonderful use of the wide windows along the walls of the office. Kudos must go to Esmerelda Viljoen and York Froon for their excellent and detailed set design.

Director Anton Schäfer has done a great job of building tension and of creating a menacing atmosphere that is doused with humour when the tension gets too high. All three actors – Steffen as John (already mentioned), Shaun Saal as Clive, and Ilse van Niekerk as Cordelia – are strong and they balance each other out, as we oscillate in our perceptions of who is the hero, who is the villain, and whether such concepts exist at all. They have good chemistry and settle well into their roles.

While the play opens with a monologue that sets the scene well, I felt that the monologue at the end of the play detracted from the hard-hitting climax of the tale. The closing soliloquy felt a bit too didactic for me and unnecessarily broke the ‘show don’t tell’ rule – the storytelling does the work and the audience is already able to draw the conclusions and consider the notions that are then posed more explicitly in this epilogue.

Nonetheless, this makes for a thrilling night at the theatre and is as thought provoking as it is suspenseful.  Especially in the wake up of the COVID pandemic, humanity is tasked with asking itself the difficult questions that perhaps it does not want the answers to, but with which it must now grapple. We are at the point of no return.

I found this unsettling offering thoroughly entertaining. Turns out I even enjoyed the blood.

WHEN THE DEAD ARRIVED runs at the Milnerton Playhouse from 29 September to 14 October with shows on Fridays and Saturdays. Please note that the production contains strong language and has an age restriction of 16. Tickets are R90.00 and can be purchased via Quicket or through the Milnerton Players Website itself.

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