Guerra with Trujillo in “From Inside”, their first production with ZU.

How long have you been involved with Zero Untitled and what was your first production?

I started Zero Untitled in the fall semester of 2014. I have currently been in ZU for about six months.

What is your best memory of any ZU production?

I would say my best memory of ZU would be the auditions for the One Acts during the fall semester. I sat there alone quietly, not saying anything or volunteering for any auditions. I remember mostly looking at the people and seeing how honestly weird they were. However, I would have never predicted how accepting ZU and its crew are of people.  I would have never assumed how close I would become to these people. Although, my favorite “production” memory would have to be [playing] the White Rabbit for the Dark Tour [in] “The Wonderland Massacre” written by the wonderful Katherine Orozco.

Trujillo as the White Rabbit.

What project or projects are you currently working on with the company?

I am currently working on rehearsing for an Improv group known as Premature Punchline. I am also currently working on a couple of productions for our next event Causa Mortis.

What kind of future project would you like to dabble in?

I would love to do miming and also do a short film of some sort. I would love to also perform in what is known as a Happening.

If you can play any role in any show for ZU, what would it be?

I would love to play some sort of creepy psychotic part. People in ZU see me as such a nice, lovable person, but I want to play a human role that would creep them out in a cringe-worthy type of way. I would also like to be given a chance at a romantic role. Finally, I would also like to be given the opportunity to direct some production for experience.

How do you prepare for a role once you are cast?

My main and most entertaining method for me to prepare for a role is to go out late at night and rehearse my lines out loud in a secluded place.

Trujillo being punished by audience members in “Penalty Hat” in a recent Premature Punchline performance.

What do you expect from the audiences of ZU shows?

Well first I expect them to show up. Although, what I truly expect from the audiences is for them to let us entertain with our creative, original ideas for plays, immersive theatre, poems, and events. I hope that they realize that not all theatrical productions have to be comedic or “happy” to be entertaining. Also, for them to like us on Facebook!

Trujillo (center) after being penalized in the Christmas Textual Overture.

There are a lot of new people in the productions.  What would you tell people that are new to ZU?

Do not be afraid to be yourself. ZU is filled with weird people that have a variety of personalities and interests. I am positive you will find someone to talk to since we are such a diverse group.

Any final statements?

Zero Untitled is the best college-based decision I have made so far. I am truly honored to be a member and I cannot wait to produce my own ideas for ZU. My advice to anyone that is reading this is to give us a try. We may be different when it comes to entertainment, but we entertain to please in our own original ways. And I promise you will make many friends here in this giant family. BE YOU WITH ZU!!

Zero Untitled’s 2014 was full of firsts and visits from the recent past. From travelling to St. Louis to performing at the largest Shakespeare festival in the country to reopening the Wonderland Ward, Zero Untitled had a busy year:

January to February – The beginning of the year was the season of Premature Punchline, with performances ranging from Kingsville to Corpus Christi. February brought the annual gaming and otaku convention GATO-Con, where Premature Punchline fills the house. February also introduced the first Textual Overture of 2014, including Zero Untitled’s first ever jazz musician.

March to April – Premature Punchline was still going strong in March, performing multiple times at the comedy club Chuckles in downtown Corpus Christi. Zero Untitled’s fifth Dark Tour, “The Factory,” sent sickeningly sweet shivers down the spines of many while certain members of Zero were preparing feverishly for the performance of “The Rape of Lucrece” in April at Shake38, the largest Shakespeare festival in the United States. But before the crew could race off to Missouri, Textual Overture had one more performance.

May to June – May was the month of the Happenings, where Creative Director Michael Verderber introduced a class to teach the members of Zero Untitled exactly what a Happening was and how to perform one. After planning the rest of the 2014 year, Zero Untitled embarked on the journey of the Happening, beginning first with an online show where the virtual audience called the shots, called “Mindless Men,” and wrapping up June with another Textual Overture performance.

July to August – July was the season of Corpus Christi 7-Day Film Project, and “Catchweight” was born, production lasting into the middle of the month while “Dual Sex,” another Happening about rape culture, was performed twice. August brought two Los Angeles premieres of Zero Untitled shows, “From Inside,” and “GPS: Gender’s Problematic Situation.” Zero also went behind the camera for poetry videos, where “Café Triste,”  and “Mal de Ojo” were born. At the tail end of the month, “’Twas the Flop Before Christmas” (staged a few years ago) was published.

September to October – September brought a short film festival, where short films such as “Mal de Ojo,” “Café Triste,” and “Catchweight” premiered. In October, Zero Untitled produced its New Foundations Theatre Festival, a collection of one act plays that centered almost exclusively around new actors to the company. “Consequences,” previously performed at Textual Overture, was published online on Dialogual’s website, and another Textual Overture was performed.

November to December – November brought back that which was only temporarily gone: Wonderland Ward. First, “The Secrets of Wonderland Ward” reminded audiences exactly what the previous Wonderland shows brought: madness and bedlam, and the whole Dark Tour, “The Wonderland Massacre” premiered only shortly after that. December introduced a first for Textual Overture: the first holiday-themed performance. “Unconditional” and “Ghosts,” two previous Textual Overture pieces, were published and Zero wrapped the year with Octavio Quintanilla’s third poetry video, “Messages” going into production. See that video below in the previous post.

(Photos: TOP, ZU Christmas Party; MID, “The Mindless Men” performance in Corpus Christi; Bottom, back stage antics during the New Foundations Festival)  

Just to catch everyone up: we have had a few meetings here and there to discuss our happenings for the summer and, as it turns out, we will begin with a Happening series!

What’s a Happening? It is an avant-garde theatrical performance / performance art medium that has a high level of improvisation (but not comedic). The idea is that the show will be performed differently every night.  We have our series already up and starting rehearsals soon.

Additionally, Premature Punchline will have some appearances in the Corpus comedy scene as well, so be on the lookout for that. In addition, we will be entering the Corpus Christi 7-Day Film Festival again, starting in July.

Also, our season is just about solidified so be on the lookout for that post.  Next up on the ZU calendar will be a Happening and a Textual Overture.

The ZU Store tab has been added for those looking to purchase play scripts and shirts that are Zero Untitled related.  Click here  or check the tab at the top of our homepage.

A Decade of Theatre – A Brief Review of ZU

Cast photo of “The Rape of Lucrece” (2011)

Well, 2013 becomes the milestone year; marks the 10^th year of Zero Untitled’s existence.  In that span, ZU which is primarily a Texas-based company, has managed to get theatre done in several major cities across the United States and even two recent shows in the heart of theatre – London.

First, let us begin this brief journey at the very beginning.  In Kingsville, TX in 2003, Zero Untitled began as Zero Untitled Films, a strictly filmmaking organization that was lead by Michael Verderber, Gabriel Ruiz, and Paco Rosales-Moreno.  Rosales-Moreno’s tenure with the organization was short-lived, so Ruiz and Verderber took up the helm.  The entire purpose behind ZU was an outlet for film projects, as both Ruiz and Verderber were swamped with stage productions in college.

The very first project was a collaboration with Corpus Christi’s Dreamchaser Productions’ creator Bobby Curbow.  ZU and Dreamchaser had their mutually shared debut film The Man Who Walks Alone at Harbor Playhouse in November 7, 2003 as part of the Edgeworks Short Film Festival.  Mere months later, Verderber and Ruiz met Jesse Shaw, a trained carnival performer who helped develop the first legitimate theatrical production – Freakshow Theatre and a collaboration with SIR, Inc.  During the rehearsal process, it became clear that keeping theatre out of ZU would be pointless as both Ruiz and Verderber were stage-trained actors.  FT marked the first outdoor stage production on the campus of Texas A&M Univ – Kingsville since the 1970s.  ZU’s goal began to focus on performing plays in non-traditional spaces (see below).

So that is how it began ten years ago.  What has happened since then?  Check out every page of the website and see for yourself!  But to save you some time, here are a few bullet points:

Promotional still for “A Life with No Joy In It” (2011)

–          67 productions (at the start of 2013)

–          2 carnival-esque freakshows: Freakshow Theatre and Freakshow Theatre II

–          3 film festivals featuring local filmmakers

–          Multiple play performances in non-traditional spaces such as: art galleries, coffee shops, bars, meeting rooms, student centers, schools, and city streets

–          Performances and film shooting in Boston, Sacramento, Las Vegas, South Padre Island, and London.

–          4 Dark Tours: Into Hell, Madness in Wonderland, Relapse in Wonderland, and Nightmare of Oz

–          Multiple mime performances: When Mimes Invade!, Gamblin’ Mime: A Las Vegas Happening, Forward MIMEntum, and London’s Mime the Gap.

–          Multiple firebreathing performances (not including the Freakshows): Surprise Flash Bang!, Our Gift from Prometheus, Prometheus [redux], Ignis Duo, Flight of the Fireflies, pts I & II, Amber & Ashes, Fate of Eights, and the shortlived X: a Firebreathing Showcase.

–          Approximately 50 world premiere plays

–          1 Traveling comedy troupe, Premature Punchline, w/ performances in Austin, Corpus Christi, and Kingsville

–          2 Shakespearean works: original adaptations of The Rape of Lucrece and The Phoenix and the Turtle, and various monologue performances – All The World’s a Stage  (London)

–          Productions of David Mamet (A Life with No Joy In It), Clement Clark Moore (A Visit from St. Nicholas), and Don Nigro (Barefoot in Nightgown by Candlelight)

–          4 music videos:  DJ Oringe’s “In Regards”, “Saltie”, and “Floormatted” and Verderber’s “Slipping”.

–          Various traditional Happenings: The Telegration Experiment, A Trance of Death, and 13°

–          5 traditional short films: The Man Who Walks Alone, The Suicide Note, Mimeumentary, Over White Wine,and Pilo the Never Ending.

–          And more!

Here’s what happened in JUST 2012:

–          Textual Overture, a coffee-shop based workshop/reading series for poems and plays performed 4 times at two locales: Café 5 and Blue Ribbon Café.

–          World premieres for original short plays Broken Wheels and Shattered.

–          Two firebreathing shows: Fate of Eights and X.

–          An ArtWalk mime show: Forward MIMEntum

–          Full length premiere of Acoustical, a romantic comedy.

–          Two performances in London, England and ZU’s first international productions of All The World’s a Stage and Mime the Gap

–          Multiple Premature Punchline shows including Fish and Giggles and The Rated R Christmas Show

–          Full-length Dark Tour production of Nightmare of Oz.

–          Eleven one-act premieres in collaboration with TAMUK

What will 2013 bring? Come to the shows and find out!

Zero Untitled is proud to announce our upcoming series of short-short films.  The films will, like “The Suicide Note”, be under 5 minutes.  As of right now, ZU is planning at least 3-4 ultra short films.  Our first has already been filmed and is heading to the can.

“Pilo, the Never Ending” is the first in the series.  It will star Kayden Nguyen, previously in “13: The Political Climate of Freemasonry.”  Because of the brief nature of the films, not much can be said about the films without giving too much of it away.  See the “Pilo, the Never Ending” for more info.

Well, in response to our slow 2008, the year of 2009 proved to be our most ambitious and busy year yet!Our previous goal or meeting/beating 2006 was reached; we did ten shows that year, so 2009 was a record breaking year! In 2009, we brought you ELEVEN productions: Read more

Hey Zero Untitled fans and theatre enthusiasts,

We’ve got a tentative schedule for our season in mind.  However, please keep in mind that due to director’s schedules, changes are inevitable and some other shows (like our Happening series) are not included on this list.  Please keep in mind that ZU has always relished in the element of surprise so shows will come and go according to necessity and schedule conflicts.  Here’s what we have so far (more shows on the way):

THE RUN AROUND by M. Verderber

     Dir. Chad Wallace / (Sept/Oct)

[UNTITLED IMPROV SHOW]

     Dir. Chad Wallace  / (Oct/Nov)

TWAS THE FLOP BEFORE CHRISTMAS by M. Verderber

     Dir. ???  / (Dec)

HEART AND STOLE by M. Verderber, adapted to the stage by Gabriel Ruiz

     Dir. Gabriel Ruiz (tentatively)  /  (Feb)

MEDEA: CERBERUS by Euripides, adapted to the stage by M. Verderber

     Dir. ???   / (Mar/April)

Keep posted for any changes.

I hope that the holidays have treated everyone well! The holidays were especially fattening for the Zero Untitled crowd. Here’s a quick breakdown of what is being worked on and what is coming up in 2008!

Read more

I apologize for the lack of action in the realm of Zero Untitled, but we’ve had some MAJOR changes come about recently.  Both Gabe and Verderber have since moved so that has been hectic.  Add in the fact that they need to adjust to their “newness” Zero Untitled has gotten a bit idle. However, this weekend we got a filming coming up!

Other excuses for Zero Untitled’s absence:

1. Folks moving

2. The Website crashed.

3. Verderber thought he saw a pink elephant.

4. Gabe thought he saw a pink rhinoceros.

But seriously, we’re back!