Desert Star Playhouse's new show "The Hungry Games" opens Aug. 29 and is ready to offer its audience a comedy based on the dramatic book and movie series it parodies.
The show is a parody of the movie "The Hunger Games," which debuted in theaters March 2012 and was based on a book of the same name. The Desert Star play is definitely family-friendly, said Bryan Dayley, the show's playwright and a Desert Star actor.
"No one actually dies in our version of the hunger games," he said. "We make sure to point that out at the very beginning … so it is family-friendly. We don't want to have a lot of violence and we make sure to not put the focus on the violence but more on the competition."
Instead, "The Hungry Games" tells the story of Catnip Neverclean, who enters a competition set up by the McDonald's corporation in which children battle each other for the chance to win $1 million, Dayley said. In the meantime, McDonald's doesn't want to give out the prize money, so it scams the contestants.
A number of characters are set to make appearances in the show, including parodies of Ronald McDonald, Paula Deen, the red-haired girl from the Wendy's fast food restaurant logo and the McDonald's Hamburglar character.
"The Hungry Games" will run Aug. 29-Nov. 9 at the Desert Star Playhouse, 4861 S. State in Murray. Tickets are $12.95-$19.95 and available at desertstar.biz or by calling the box office at 801-266-2600.
Email: ajones@desnews.com