Does the Cultural Vampire Look Back in the Mirror? A Review on a New Theatrical Parody of the Twilight Vampire Series

Dusk: Improvised Tween Erotica

It could be said that there is a very striking similarity between vampires and teens. Can we compare the way that some hot blooded vampires struggle to hold back their lust for human plasma, and the way that some young teenagers hold back the surge of their new found hormones?

Enter the vampire romance genre, the hot topic in Hollywood these days.

This phenomenon of sex and vampirism is ripe for a new parody that can bite its fangs into the genre. The Improvise theatre group called Gnap! Theatre Projects has set about doing just that, with their parody of Twilight, called 'Dusk: Improvised Tween Erotica'.

Shana Merlin and Michael Thomas lead the Gnap! troup of actors, in a parody of Catherine Hardwicke's new vampire genre. Chelsea Gilman is Bella, normally played by actress Kristen Stewart. Michael Thomas, as Edward Cullen, fills in for Robert Pattinson, and Bryan Cruz has the role of Jacob Black, played in the Twilight series by Taylor Lautner. The work of Gnap! Dusk has been well received in Austin, considered this nation's second Hollywood, by some filmmakers' standards. I was lucky to have reserved a ticket, as the Salvage Vanguard theater was sold out.

On this night, the Gnap! Gang asked for audience participation by requesting the suggestion of a place in a small town. From here, the cast improvised an elaborate story of teenage vampire romance, centering on actress Chelsea Gilman. What ensues are all the comedic stereotypes of tween vampire romance. They whiz through the woods, carrying their fellow actors to make them fly, swooping them about the stage. The actors adeptly took on several roles, at one point putting on a hilarious vampire dinner scene. Bella's life is saved by actor Bryan Cruz who becomes the hero in an action scene replete with many flying blood suckers.