View source for Play Dead (show)

{{Short description|Off-broadway theatrical production}}
{{other uses|Play Dead (disambiguation)}}
{{Infobox play
| name       = Play Dead
| image      = PD-Art.jpg
| writer     = [[Todd Robbins]] and [[Teller (entertainer)|Teller]]
| characters = [[Todd Robbins]] <br> [[Mina Crandon]] <br> [[Eusapia Palladino]] <br> [[Albert Fish]] <br> Girl
| premiere   = November 10, 2010
| place      = Players Theatre <br> [[New York City, New York]]
| orig_lang  = English
| subject    = [[Death]], [[Deception]], [[Spiritualism (beliefs)|Spiritualism]], [[Evil]]
| genre      = [[thriller (genre)|Thriller]]
| website    = www.playdeadnyc.com
}}
'''''Play Dead''''' is a 2010 Off-Broadway show co-written by magicians [[Todd Robbins]] and [[Teller (entertainer)|Teller]], the latter best known as the non-speaking half of the illusionist duo [[Penn & Teller]].<ref name="ny_daily_news">{{Citation
| newspaper = [[New York Daily News]]
| date = October 21, 2010
| url = http://www.nydailynews.com/entertainment/arts/2010/10/21/2010-10-21_play_dead_teller_and_todd_robbins_offbroadway_show_creeps_up_your_neck_literally.html
| title = 'Play Dead,' Teller and Todd Robbins off-Broadway show, creeps up your neck, literally
| accessdate = 2010-11-10
| author = Dziemianowicz, Joe
}}</ref> The show also features Charlotte Pines as Margery Crandon, Geri Berman as Eusapia Palladino, Don Meehan as Albert Fish, and Drea Lorraine as Phantoms.
The opening minutes of the show are performed in complete darkness, and the show itself features carefully crafted tricks and illusions ranging from killing a real audience member, to contact with the dead.<ref name="ny_daily_news"/> The show stars Robbins as the narrator and is directed by Teller.<ref name="wsj">{{Citation
| newspaper = [[Wall Street Journal]]
| date = November 9, 2010
| url = https://www.wsj.com/articles/SB10001424052748703856504575601180298889038?mod=googlenews_wsj
| author = Gamerman, Ellen
| title = The Glass Half Eaten: The Famously Silent Teller Talks About His New Show
| accessdate = 2010-11-10
}}</ref>  This incarnation of Play Dead began with two weeks of workshop performances at ''The Calypso Room'' in [[Las Vegas Valley|Las Vegas]] in September, 2010, at the Rio, the home of Penn and Teller.  Teller told the opening night audience that the show marked the first time ever that a show was created in Las Vegas to bring to New York, and was headed directly for an [[Off Broadway|off-broadway]] venue in [[New York City]].<ref name="las_vegas_weekly">{{Citation
| title=Teller's Las Vegas-born Play Dead is headed to off-Broadway
| date=September 16, 2010
| accessdate=September 27, 2010
| url=http://www.lasvegasweekly.com/blogs/luxe-life/2010/sep/16/tellers-las-vegas-born-emplay-deadem-headed--broad/
| newspaper=[[Las Vegas Weekly]]
| author=Chareunsy, Don
}}</ref> It opened for previews on October 21, 2010, and opened officially November 10, 2010 at [[The Players Theatre]] on [[MacDougal Street]] in [[Greenwich Village]].<ref name="ny_daily_news"/>  The show ran Tuesday to Friday at 8pm, Saturday at 7 and 10pm, and Sunday at 3 and 7pm.  Various members of the cast greeted the audience as they exited through the lobby.
During the last performances of the Off-Broadway show, Teller hired New York filmmaker [[Shade Rupe]] to document the show. After receiving the material, Teller and editor [[Emery Emery]] crafted the material into a finished performance film, which world premiered to great acclaim for a sold-out crowd on July 27, 2012, at the 16th [[Fantasia Film Festival]] in Montreal, QC. Teller, Todd Robbins, and Shade Rupe appeared for the Q&A, which included Todd eating a lightbulb and Teller swallowing needles and regurgitating them strung up on a string.<ref name="Bitch Stole My Remote">{{Citation
| newspaper = [[Bitch Stole My Remote]]
| url = http://bitchstolemyremote.com/2012/07/28/film-review-play-dead-fantastia-film-festival/
| title = Play Dead - Fantasia 2012 Review
| author = Cinephilactic
| date = July 28, 2012
| accessdate = July 29, 2012
}}</ref>
In 2013, Teller and Robbins brought the production to The Geffen Playhouse in Los Angeles, with a cast including: Todd Robbins, Julie Marie Hassett, [[Pearls Daily]] (credited as Brianna Hurley), Shar Mayer, and Rick Williamson.<ref>{{Cite web |last1=Meisel |first1=Myron |date=2013-11-25 |title=Play Dead: Theater Review |url=https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/lifestyle/lifestyle-news/play-dead-theater-review-660041/ |access-date=2023-01-04 |website=The Hollywood Reporter |language=en-US}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=Play Dead |url=https://www.geffenplayhouse.org/shows/play-dead/ |access-date=2023-01-04 |website=Geffen Playhouse |language=en}}</ref>
==Reception==
The New York Times noted the gruesome nature of the show but added "this wild, wicked show is not just a screamfest after all; it’s a pretty good piece of theater."<ref name="ny_times">{{Citation
| newspaper = [[New York Times]]
| url = http://theater.nytimes.com/2010/11/11/theater/reviews/11play.html?src=twrhp
| title = Gleeful Gore at Players Theater
| author = Genzlinger, Neil
| date = November 10, 2010
| accessdate = November 11, 2010
}}</ref>
==Production credits==
''These credits relate to the Off Broadway production''<ref name="playbill">{{Citation
|publisher   = [[Playbill]]
|url         = http://www.playbill.com/news/article/144763-Play-Dead-Directed-and-Co-Written-By-Teller-Opens-Off-Broadway-Nov-10
|title       = Play Dead, Directed and Co-Written By Teller, Opens Off-Broadway Nov. 10
|author      = Gans, Andrew
|date        = November 10, 2010
|accessdate  = 2010-11-10
|url-status     = dead
|archiveurl  = https://web.archive.org/web/20101112005324/http://www.playbill.com/news/article/144763-Play-Dead-Directed-and-Co-Written-By-Teller-Opens-Off-Broadway-Nov-10
|archivedate = November 12, 2010
}}</ref>
* Writers: Teller, Todd Robbins
* Narrator: Todd Robbins
* Margery: Charlotte Pines
* Eusapia: Geri Berman
* Albert Fish: Don Meehan
* Girl: Drea Lorraine
* Scenic design: David Korins
* Lighting design: Thom Weaver
* Sound design: by Leon Rothenberg
* Magic Consultant: Johnny Thompson
* Original music: Gary Stockdale
* Associate director: Jim Millan
* Produced by Alan Schuster, Cheryl Wiesenfeld, Frank & Jono Gero, Pat Blake and [[Ethan Silverman]]
* Production Stage Manager: Maggie Sinak
* Production Sound Engineer: Reece Nunez
* Assistant Stage Manager: Amanda Sheets
==References==
<references/>
==External links==
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20101117155220/http://www.playdeadnyc.com/ Official website]
[[Category:2010 plays]]
[[Category:Magic shows]]
[[Category:Off-Broadway plays]]