''Play Dead'' is a 2010 Off-Broadway show co-written by magicians

Todd Robbins Todd Robbins (born August 15, 1958) is an American magician, lecturer, actor, and author. Biography Todd Robbins was born in Long Beach, California, the son of a soap executive and a schoolteacher. At the age of 10, Robbins was introduced to mag ...

and Teller, the latter best known as the non-speaking half of the illusionist duo

Penn & Teller Penn & Teller, Penn Jillette and Teller, are American magicians, entertainers, and scientific skeptics who have performed together since the late 1970s. They are noted for their ongoing act that combines elements of comedy with magic. The duo ha ...

. 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. The show stars Robbins as the narrator and is directed by Teller. This incarnation of Play Dead began with two weeks of workshop performances at ''The Calypso Room'' in

Las Vegas Las Vegas (; Spanish for "The Meadows"), often known simply as Vegas, is the 25th-most populous city in the United States, the most populous city in the state of Nevada, and the county seat of Clark County. The city anchors the 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 An off-Broadway theatre is any professional theatre venue in New York City with a seating capacity between 100 and 499, inclusive. These theatres are smaller than Broadway theatres, but larger than off-off-Broadway theatres, which seat fewer tha ...

venue in

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...

. It opened for previews on October 21, 2010, and opened officially November 10, 2010 at

The Players Theatre The Players Theatre, located at 115 MacDougal Street between West 3rd and Bleecker Streets in the West Village neighborhood of Manhattan, is one of the oldest commercial Off-Broadway theatres in operation in New York City. The Players Theatre c ...

MacDougal Street MacDougal Street is a one-way street in the Greenwich Village and SoHo neighborhoods of Manhattan, New York City. The street is bounded on the south by Prince Street and on the north by West 8th Street; its numbering begins in the south. Betw ...

Greenwich Village Greenwich Village ( , , ) is a neighborhood on the west side of Lower Manhattan in New York City, bounded by 14th Street to the north, Broadway to the east, Houston Street to the south, and the Hudson River to the west. Greenwich Village ...

. 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 Shade Rupe (born August 23, 1968) is an American writer, editor, and filmmaker. Rupe created the two volumes of ''Funeral Party'' in 1995 and 1997. The first volume was edited and designed by Rupe, along with Michael Rorro and Marlene Leac ...

to document the show. After receiving the material, Teller and editor

Emery Emery Emery Emery (born December 25, 1963) is an American comedian, film editor and producer, and outspoken atheist, known for his contribution to numerous comedy-related films and TV shows, his two podcasts, ''Skeptically Yours'', and the award-winni ...

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 Fantasia International Film Festival (also known as Fantasia-fest, FanTasia, and Fant-Asia) is a film festival that has been based mainly in Montreal since its founding in 1996. Regularly held in July of each year, it is valued by both hardcore ...

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. 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.

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."

Production credits

''These credits relate to the Off Broadway production''{{Citation , publisher =

Playbill ''Playbill'' is an American monthly magazine for theatergoers. Although there is a subscription issue available for home delivery, most copies of ''Playbill'' are printed for particular productions and distributed at the door as the show's pr ...

, 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 * 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 Gary may refer to: *Gary (given name), a common masculine given name, including a list of people and fictional characters with the name *Gary, Indiana, the largest city named Gary Places ;Iran *Gary, Iran, Sistan and Baluchestan Province ;Unit ...

* Associate director: Jim Millan * Produced by Alan Schuster, Cheryl Wiesenfeld, Frank & Jono Gero, Pat Blake and

Ethan Silverman Ethan may refer to: People * Ethan (given name) Places *Ethan, South Dakota * Fort Ethan Allen (Arlington, Virginia) Fiction *''Ethan of Athos'', 1986 novel by Lois McMaster Bujold *" Ethan Brand", 1850 short story by Nathaniel Hawthorne *''Eth ...

* Production Stage Manager: Maggie Sinak * Production Sound Engineer: Reece Nunez * Assistant Stage Manager: Amanda Sheets

References

External links

Official website
2010 plays Magic shows Off-Broadway plays