Few theater companies need a go-to guy for all matters pertaining to zombies. Fewer still are fortunate enough to have a zombie specialist.
Chris Holcom is that person for Jobsite Theater.
"Some theater companies do a Christmas show every year," Holcom said. "Jobsite does a Halloween show. I'm their zombie guy."
This year, he's directing Night of the Living Dead, a stage version of the classic 1968 horror film.
Holcom traces his penchant for the undead to his childhood in Lakeland, where his father operated a funeral home.
"I saw more bodies before I was 10 than most people see in their entire life," Holcom said.
He doesn't get to hang around with corpses as much as he used to, but now Holcom's tastes in art and literature sometimes veer toward the macabre.
"Stephen King and Clive Barker are on my bookshelf, right there next to Shakespeare and Ibsen," he said.
Holcom said he has wanted to direct Lori Allen Ohm's stage version of Night of the Living Dead for some time, but he saw some problems with the script, including the way the main female character is portrayed. So for his staging, he's taking some liberties, incorporating elements of the 1990 film remake and adding video segments that aren't called for in Ohm's script.
But he has kept both the chills and the social commentary of the original. After all, he's a zombie connoisseur, and he wouldn't want to tamper with a classic.
"It truly is the definitive zombie movie," Holcom said.
if you go:Night of the Living Dead
It runs through Nov. 15 at the Tampa Bay Performing Arts Center's Shimberg Playhouse. Shows are at 8 p.m. Thursday through Saturday and 4 p.m. Sunday. Tickets start at $24.50 plus service charge. (813) 229-7827 or tbpac.org.
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