‘They won’t stay dead’
And echoing the tagline from the original movie, we introduce the final character poster in our series for Night Of The Living Dead. And fittingly, we’ve left the lead for last.
Meet Ben. This is our version of the iconic hero played by Duane Jones in the 1968 original. Famous at the time for being the first African American actor cast as the lead in a horror movie, Ben is one of the most beloved screen horror heroes of all time. In our version, as you’ll notice, he’s not black. The racial subtext of the original wasn’t as relevant to our version of the character (and Romero insisted the character’s race was never an issue), so our Ben is an unemployed builder who represents everything that’s wrong with Ireland. He condones corruption, he’s racist, sexist, homophobic and vociferously doesn’t care for anyone but himself. The ultimate mé feiner. But like his 1968 counterpart, when the going gets tough, he finds himself put in a position he never wanted: hero.
Ben is played by Eddie Murphy. This marks his fourth production with us. Previous roles include Cannibal! The Musical, Peter Taylor in Stags and Hens and devised and performed in the second production of Shakespeare In Bits.
Eddie Murphy as Peter Taylor in Stags and Hens.
Night Of The Living Dead plays the Watergate Theatre, Kilkenny from July 24th – 28th 2012. Tickets can be booked on 056 – 7761674 and online. Also keep an eye on nightofthelivingdead.ie
