Show information

- Event: “Bigger Guns III: Revenge of the Apocalypse (Again)”

- Dates and times: Friday through Sunday and April 26-28; Fridays, Saturdays and Thursday (April 26) at 8 p.m.; Sunday (April 22) at 3 p.m.

- Location: New World Arts, 211 South Main St., Suite B, Goshen

- Cost: $12 general admission, $7 students and seniors

- For more information: (574) 975-0311; www.newworldarts.org; info@newworldarts.org



“Bigger Guns III: Revenge of the Apocalypse (Again),” an original production of the New World Arts Action Comedy Co/Lab, opens this weekend in Goshen.

The production is co-directed by Eric Meyer and Michelle Milne.

The plot is set in Goshen, involving familiar places and faces and, according to Meyer, “martial arts, mob bosses, birthday parties, live rock music, bigger guns, chase scenes, heroes, villains, unlikely plot twists — the whole works.”

“Bigger Guns III” is the first show created entirely as a collaborative effort at New World. It’s also “the funniest show I’ve ever worked on,” Meyer said.

The story of “Bigger Guns III,” like those of many action movies, is filled with gun-toting villains whose evil schemes are discovered by clever heroes. The show also features music from an all-female punk band, Daisy Chainsaw and The Flash Mob.

The idea to develop a stage show based on the action film genre evolved from a moment of relief during a rehearsal for New World’s production last year of Athol Fugard’s “Hello and Goodbye.” According to Milne, the cast of the Fugard production took a break from the emotionally complex scenes they were practicing to release tension in an usual way: kung fu kicks. From there, Milne said, “it all spiraled. You’ve got to jump on a good idea when it hits you.”

Milne, Meyer and actors and fellow collaborators Ben Jacobs and Emily Swora then developed an Action Comedy Co/Lab experience, which drew 30 participants from the Goshen area as well as six states and two other countries, in April 2006. Some of the ideas from that experience found their way into this year’s original play.

Over the past year, the four collaborators spent considerable time creating the plot and characters of “Bigger Guns III.” Inspired by the Co/Lab work, Meyer began working up a script with ongoing contributions from the others.

“I think the challenge of creating live what, in film, is done with special effects is something an audience can really appreciate,” Milne said. “It means we have to come up with creative solutions — and sometimes we have to bend the rules a bit, which is part of the comedy. We can’t take it too seriously — but we do have to be very detail-oriented to make it work.”

In addition to serving as co-director, Milne plays the dual characters Daisy Chainsaw and Chain Daisysaw — the show’s unlikely hero — a landscaper who works in a shoe store in the off-season, and considers herself a “semi-retired” hero who’d prefer to spend her time making music with a punk band. However, Milne said, Daisy Chainsaw “is very committed to the city of Goshen, so when she thinks it is under siege, she decides to come out of retirement and save the day. We also have an unlikely villain — it won’t be the person you think it is! While the characters were built around stereotypes, they all have quirks that I think make them quite unique as characters.”

Swora, who designed the costumes for “Bigger Guns III,” and Jacobs, who designed the set, are also taking on dual roles — Swora as Clarence X and Killer, and Jacobs as the Mayor and Harry P. Zeitgeist.

Cast members, in addition to Milne, Jacobs, Swora and Glick, include Beth Glick, Andrew Landis, Francisco Ramirez, Kimberlee Rohrer, Courtney Papa and Sarah Jensen. The stunt team includes Jon Nafziger, Mathew Rody and Lindsy Glick. Milne also fronts the band Daisy Chainsaw and the Flash Mob, which will rock the action-comedy plot. Other band members are Swora (keyboards), Jessica Baldanzi (bass) and Sondra Eby Eisenstat (percussion).

New World Arts produces a yearly theater season and hosts occasional visiting ensembles, musicians and visual artists. For more information, call (574) 975-0311, email info@newworldarts.org or visit www.newworldarts.org.