4 THE DAILY VOICE, THURSDAY, OCT. 29, 2015 EDITOR ERIN BOE FA ntertainment GIANLUCA RAMALHO MISITI/FLICKR photo A female zombie participant in Zombie Walk 2012. Zombies have been a popular theme on television with shows like The Walking Dead and its prequel, Fear the Walking Dead, and iZombie. These brainless creatures have chewed, snarled, and shuffled their way into the hearts and minds of television viewers everywhere By MARK STUART lesh-eating creatures of the un- dead, for one reason or another, continue to spark human inter- est. Mostly a fabrication of pop-culture, zombies hold a mystifying sort of stay- ing power over humans for reasons that aren’t entirely settled. UBC psychology professor and zom- bie expert Dr. Lynn Alden, PhD, be- lieves it may be partly linked to innate human emotions. “We have this primal human fear of being helpless and being pursued by creatures that are going to kill us and turn us into one of the undead,” said Alden. “Some therapists believe that by confronting zombies in symbolic form—like in the media, TV and mov- ies—people, to some extent, work through some of their fears about death and about undead creatures coming after them, and that may be part of the staying power,” she add- ed. With zombies being somewhat of a pop-culture staple lately, and The Walking Dead and its prequel, Fear the Walking Dead, both airng on AMC, stu- dents at Langara College have varied opinions as to why they remain , popu- @& lar. “T think i t must be all these televisions shows and movies,” said first-year nursing é student Andrew Yan. “A lot of people fear zombies in the same way you’d be scared of spiders, even though the zombies aren’t even real.” Others think it has more to do with how the product people watch is deliv- ered. “With zombie movies and shows, there’s a lot you can mix in there,” said first-year economics student Bryan Kong. “You can mix a lot into the plot and story of it all, like in The Walking Dead.” “T think it also has a lot to do with visual effects,” he said, adding that people like survivor stories. Although explanations as to why zombies maintain their popularity are largely unique to the individual and Joey Bertran as a zombie taken Halloween 2004. DANIEL HOLLISTER/ FLICKR phot 66 People fear zombies in the same way youd be scared of spiders, even though the zombies aren’t even real ANDREW YAN NURSING STUDENT Legacy fund for students Studio 58 is collecting donations from graduates By VINCENT MATAK for its current students. The Studio 58 Legacy Fund, launched in honour of the program’s 50th anniversary this year, has already amassed 67 per cent of its $250,000 goal — procured by donations solicited from alumni, audience members and theatre professionals, which are matched by Langara College. The initiative is the brainchild of Jane Heymen, former associate direc- tor of Studio 58 and program graduate Joey Lespérance, to provide students with more professional theatre oppor- tunities in light of decreased funding by the provincial government to Langa- ra College over the years. “We both said this is the perfect op- portunity to reach out to our grads and do something special for our program,” said Heyman, who sits on the Studio 58 Theatre Arts Advisory Committee. According to Heyman - who taught at Studio 58 for 20 years — the provincial government cut arts funding by 90 per cent as a whole in 2008, boosting com- petition amongst arts groups to secure funding. In turn, the cost of bringing in theatre professionals to Studio 58, in- cluding production designers and di- rectors, went up. The funds will help finance profes- sionals, working alongside students, over the next 50 years. It will also go towards things like set designs and cre- ating more collaboration opportunities for students with professional theatre companies. Graduating this year, performing arts student Elan Lennon-Bertles said developing relationships with theatre professionals is a “huge advantage.” Lennon-Bertles, who is also the cur- rent assistant communications manag- er for Studio 58, said, “We have connec- tions when we get out in the world. It helps us get jobs.” Ss" 58 is establishing a legacy Theatre audience interaction using social media, smartphone technology Radix Theatre brings the Tibetan Book of the Dead to the audience by act- ing out and coming to the participants’ homes and workplaces during its 21- day event By SEAN LEE formance to the audience’s homes, workplace, and into their daily lives. Their new production titled TBD is a 21-day interactive performance experi- ence that takes the audience through the Tibetan Book of the Dead. “The Tibetan Book of the Dead is sometimes referred to not only as a guide to dying, but also a guide to liv- ing — living without fear, being in the moment, and letting go of attachment,” said Radix Theatre’s artistic producer, R:: Theatre is bringing their per- Andrew Laurenson. They kicked off their event with an orientation at Mountain View Ceme- tery in South Vancouver on Oct. 25. The event runs until Nov. 14. In a first-time move for Radix The- atre, TBD uses smartphones to con- nect the performers to the audience of 100 individuals. They are used to en- hance the experience through pod- casts, videos, text messages, and in- structions to each audience member that moves their story of the produc- tion forward. Each audience member becomes the main character of the personalized performance that explores life, death, and the afterlife. They become the main subject of the play itself, and the play happens around them. The performers will visit the partici- pants at their homes, their jobs, or wherever they may be at the time. They may come to your house and do your dishes or they may act out a portion of the play out in front of you. You may even pass by a performer without fully realizing it, making the experience more immersive and surre- al. Audience member Luglio Romero said he initially felt some hesitation about the interactive nature of the pro- duction, but then decided to embrace the new experience. “T was a bit anxious at the beginning, but [I think] it is very important to al- low oneself to enter into the experience of this is interactive form of theatre, a new way of perceiving theatre,” said Romero. “We felt like everybody seems plugged into their phones. It seems like that is the portal to the world for so many people,” said Laurenson. “We connect with [the audience] through their smartphones. “We can locate where they are, we can send messages to them wherever they are, much the way a spiritual force might connect with you wherever you are. It sort of gives us omnipotent pow- er to find anyone, anywhere.” Check out the photo gallery at http://langaravoice.ca/ A promotional shot of TBD, Radix Theatre’s newest pro- duction which will allow the performers to interact with audience members using smartphone technology. LANGARA FLU CLINIC IN THE MAIN FOYER Oct. 28 from 10-2 Oct. 29 from 11-3 Nov. 4 from 11-3 Nov. 5 from 10-2