Hell Followed With Her by Wildclaw Theatre

Show art courtesy of Joel Maisonet and Jake Fruend featuring Lauren Leigh Demerath and Jennifer Betancourt with makeup by Bonnie Bones

When I started mentioning to people I was going to see a zombie western show, I noticed their faces light up. Who wouldn't love a mash-up between beloved zombies of our favorite shows, comics, and video games and cowboys of spaghetti westerns, with those sweeping panoramas of the wild west? But just how do these genres come together, and more importantly, how does it translate to the stage? 
Those ambitious risk takers at Wildclaw Theatre are here to blow your world apart. Hell Followed With Her is a world premiere written by local playwright, Bill Daniel and directed by the incomparable Josh Zagoren. The show has a rather large ensemble cast and some very talented production staff behind the scenes. While you may be expecting a lot of blood and guts, you may be surprised. The charming part about this show was not actual zombie action, but the development of the characters and the stories they each told. 

George Zerante as Glanton and Sophia Rosado as Willow Parker - Photo by Clark Bender

The story follows the a woman named Willow Parker (played by the mysteriously haunting and stoic Sophia Rosado), a woman with revenge on her mind who ventures into a small dusty saloon in Dodge, Texas. When Willow finds herself face to face with Glanton, the man she's been hunting down (played by George Zerante), it then appears that she unintentionally didn't come alone. The undead begin to overtake the town, and a collection of unsuspecting locals find themselves trapped together in the saloon. Quite unlike your typical western with white men having all the exciting parts to play, the cast is diverse and there's plenty of juicy roles to go round.
Some stand out performances included Savanah Rae as Irish who was both funny and dynamic and amazingly held her Irish accent amidst a bunch of southern dialects. Ardarius Blakely portrayed the heroic Cole - a striking cowboy character with a resonant voice that commanded the room. Nora King played Shelby, a blind bystander whose comic timing couldn't have been more spot on. Best funny line definitely goes to her-- "So --who's dead now?"

Cat McKay as Jesse, Krista D'Agostino as Doc Haxton, Kim Coler as Bathcat and Savanna Rae as Irish - Photo by Clark Bender

I got to chat with director and artistic director of Wildclaw Theatre, Josh Zaragon about the show. "The biggest challenge of this show was the large ensemble cast. We needed to balance telling everyone's stories and make sure each character had their moment."

"At the core of this show is corruption and greed. The zombies themselves don't have the capacity to be scary. I wanted the villain to be the true villain -- and for the cast to tear each other to pieces while the world collapsed around them." ​​

Brittany Ellis as Sloat and Kim Boler as Bathcat - Photo by Clark Bender

Hell Followed With Her is playing at the Den Theatre space at 1331 N Milwaukee Ave in Chicago October 14-November 9th. Shows are Thursday-Sundays and Mondays (Industry Night) at 7:30 pm. Tickets are $30 general admission and $15 for students and industry professionals and all tickets are $15 on Mondays. Visit wildclawtheatre.com for more information.