What Came First the Werechicken or the Girl? - a conversation with NIGHT OF THE CHICKEN playwright Carrie Behrens

Carrie Behrens
photo by Glen Goldblatt

by Julia Bashaw

A character that has a double life or identity is a common plot device in superhero movies and in old horror films. Peter Parker got bit by a spider and became Spiderman, Larry Talbot got bit by a wolf and became a werewolf in The Wolf Man. This beloved and treasured concept intrigues most audiences due to the thrill of new abilities and possibilities that come with this new identity. But what if the other part of you that you couldn’t control turning into, was a chicken? A werechicken; it may sound strange but don’t dismiss the idea so quickly.

Playwright Carrie Behrens is the author of The Night of the Chicken series which has been performed at Space 55 Theatre. It is a series of plays, 90 minutes each with currently four episodes written and performed as a live radio play.

“The story is about a teenage girl. There is an accident in her school’s science lab and she becomes a werechicken,” Behrens illustrated. “Our actors stand at music stands and read from the script and then we have two people who perform live sound effects. We use various sounds to enhance the show. Even though the actors are reading from scripts, the show is heavily rehearsed. There’s still a lot of staging and light changes and it is very interesting visually even though you wouldn’t expect it to be.”

Behrens never intended to be a playwright, she didn’t grow up in the theatre world and honestly thought she might be a novelist someday. She was always a big fan of werewolf movies and old-time radio plays when she was young. A live radio play was the concept she ended up writing the series as because it was what she knew the best.

Carrie Behrens, Aleks Hollis, Javier Gilmore, BJ Garrett,
Meredith Dylan Howell, Puneet Bajwa, and Amy Carpenter
in Night of the Chicken Episode 2 at Space 55
photo by by Rodrigo Izquierdo

“I always thought it would be cool to make one,” Behrens stated about live radio plays. “Now I never intended to write plays at all, to be honest. But I had a friend who was taking a playwriting class and talked me into going with her. In the back of my head, I had this idea. I’ve always loved werewolf stories but I’ve never seen a werewolf movie that was actually a satisfying story. But I’ve always liked the idea of the person who has two sides to their identity with the one side they can’t control. So I thought I’d make her a chicken instead of a wolf, the concept of turning into a monster but the type of creature you turn into is not even cool. So at the playwriting class, I thought. 'maybe this was the time to play around with this werechicken character,' and I wrote a very early draft of the first play in that class.”

In that class, Behrens met Kim Porter, who would go on to serve as the director of The Night of the Chicken series. Porter was the one who recommended Space 55 to do a read through of Behren's play. It is something special Space 55 does on occasion, they allow a local playwright to bring in their work-in-progress piece, an audience comes to listen, and actors read the script from chairs and everyone provides feedback. The previously booked playwright for the play reading slot backed out and Porter advocated for Behren’s play to be read through instead. A couple of days later the artistic director of Space 55 called Behrens wanting to produce it. It was also Space 55's first time producing a live radio-style play.

What is even more unique about this series is that Behrens is revamping the first two episodes of the play. The first episode was performed in December of 2009 and the second episode in February of 2012. With more experience writing, she decided to expand on her work to make it better.

“It’s a richer world with a lot more going on, a lot more sub-plots and a lot more characters,” Behrens explained. “Basically when I started writing this series I was brand new to writing plays, I didn’t know what I was doing and I was just having fun. I didn’t imagine it would take off in the way that it has. The episodes have gotten better as I’ve continued and the 4th episode was a big hit. So many people said they wished they'd been watching it all along but I was glad that they didn’t because the earlier episodes weren’t as good. So, I’ve gone back and rewritten the first two episodes to bring them up to the level of episodes 3 and 4. This is because there are skills I didn’t have back then and there were things I didn’t know possible when performing a live radio play.”

Puneet Bajwa, Javier Gilmore, Amy Carpenter
in Night of the Chicken Episode 2 at Space 55
photo by by Rodrigo Izquierdo

This production that is currently being performed at Space 55 Theatre in Downtown Phoenix until March 17th is the new re-written episode 2 of the series. Carrie never believed her camp-story-like idea would ever go anywhere, let alone win ariZoni Awards for Best Overall Production, Original Script, and Actress in a Major Role, which it won at the 2018 ariZoni Awards Ceremony.

“Any great project is only great because of all the people that contribute to it,” Behrens said humbly. “The cast, the director, and crew all contributed in a bunch of different ways. All of the writers and friends I know have given me feedback. Night of the Chicken wouldn’t nearly be as good as it is if it weren’t for so many people who’ve parts of themselves to it. This was just for fun and it was just a crazy thing that took hold of my life and spun it off in this totally different direction which I am so happy about. I just want audiences to laugh and escape for 90 minutes and forget about everything.”

Whether you have seen past productions or not, this new installment will be a unique experience either way. However, if you want to catch up on the story of Andi and her related feather issues, you can listen to past episodes. In true fashion, the Night of the Chicken series is actually recorded and posted as if it is a live radio play. Just go to Carrie’s website to listen: https://nightofthechicken.com/. And better yet, more installments of The Night of the Chicken could happen.

“I hope I have it in me to write them,” Behrens laughed. “There are still a lot of loose ends with this story and certain characters, parts that can be further explained, and mysterious that have been laid out that haven’t resolved. I have plans on resolving them and I am hoping to do two more episodes I think.”

CLICK HERE for more information on Carrie Behrens's live radio play The Night of the Chicken, Episode 2: The Venda Gram of DOOM! at Space 55 theatre in Downtown Phoenix, which plays through March 17th.