Sophie Bond meets a rising theatre star and his troupe of zombie clowns.
The cast gathers in the Long Bay College auditorium. Spotlights swing across the stage, a clown can't find her costume, someone realises they're going to miss the weekend rehearsal.
In the midst of the scuffle, Gorjan Markovski orders
two actors behind a screen to make scary poses while his photo is taken. Mid-shoot, the poised 18-year-old starts giving directions: "Now cast, today I want you to really work on your costume changes."
A hush falls over the room. There is a general rustling as the students get ready to run through Zombie Clown Invaders Must Die, which Gorjan wrote, choreographed and directs.
"I wanted to do a production that was run by students at the school. They are taking care of lighting, sets, costumes, makeup and sound. There was a student-run production two years ago and I really admired it and wanted to try and make it a biennial event," he says.
The script is the first he's written but, he says, directing is what he enjoys. "You've got the whole picture there and you get to orchestrate it all. I wanted to do something fun that would get people to come and I thought: why not take the zombie genre but make it for everyone?
"It's got the B-movie experience but I've made it really energetic. When I wrote the play, I wanted to have characters that the actors could have fun with."
Gorjan has dozens of academic and drama awards but says he's proudest of his Most Memorable Direction award at the 2010 Sheilah Winn Shakespeare Festival. He's performed since Year 4 when he played Oliver at Campbells Bay Primary and had lead roles in Long Bay College's last three productions.
Head of media studies Adrienne Bishop says Gorjan is an extraordinary talent.
"Zombie Clowns is part B-movie homage, part avant-garde theatre. It is a genius script with witty dialogue and delightful, quirky, genuine characters. Gorjan's writing is fresh and exciting and he is sure to go on to do amazing things in the theatre and film world - hopefully here in New Zealand."
Zombie Clown Invaders Must Die, August 10-13 at 7pm in Long Bay College auditorium. Tickets at school reception at $10 each. Ph 477 9009 for more info. Ticket sales will help 2013's student production.
