“SAW The Musical,” an unauthorized parody of the graphic horror film “Saw,” is running at Ames Hall at the Salem YMCA until Nov. 9, with two performances on Halloween.
The musical pokes fun at the extremely gory 2004 film. It uses simulated gore, primarily in the form of red tubing inside a dummy.
Writer Zoe Ann Jordan had a longstanding interest in parody musicals, citing “Silence! The Musical,” a parody of “Silence of the Lambs,” as an influence. “Saw” has become a franchise since the release of the first film in 2004, with nine sequels following the original. According to Jordan, many of the sequels are fairly camp themselves, which influenced her decision to make the spirit of the musical’s dialogue over-the-top.
The series’ “gore, in and of itself, is already funny,” she said.
Much of the musical centers on sexual tension between two male characters stuck in a large blood-and-dirt-stained bathroom. One, Adam, is a freelance photographer willing to pursue dubious assignments for money. The other, Lawrence, is a doctor with a wife and daughter about whom he has ambivalent feelings. The dynamic between the two was influenced by public speculation about sexual tension between the two main characters of the original film, also named Adam and Lawrence, also chained inside a bathroom. They are teased and tortured by a killer known as Jigsaw, represented in both the film and the musical by a puppet.
“SAW The Musical,” is Jordan’s first credit as a writer of musicals. Though she intended for Adam and Lawrence’s relationship to be explicitly queer when she first started writing the book, she said that the creative team involved in developing the show’s music and lyrics pushed the ridiculous nature of the relationship even further. Adam and Lawrence remarking on it being the wrong place and time for intimacy became the basis of an entire song called “Wrong Place, Wrong Time,” about the inconvenient timing of finding yourself attracted to a stranger you’re trapped in a bloody bathroom with.
Stage Manager Desi Marino has overseen other productions on the show’s national tour. He previously worked on “Heathers: The Musical,” a parody of the 1988 dark comedy film “Heathers.” “Heathers: The Musical” had more props, he said, but “SAW The Musical” is its own animal.
“There’s so little you can do to prepare for SAW The Musical, honestly,” he said, with Jordan comparing production to “going on your first ever tornado chase.”
A given production has three actors, all of whom are moving props and following stage directions in addition to acting. Theaters that have hosted the show have been small. At one venue in Casper, Wyoming, a props table had to be kept in a hallway adjacent to the stage. Marino emphasized, however, that the production’s success is much more dependent on organization and the preparedness of the cast and crew than on having a large team.
“When people are chosen right, it can be run much better than even some Broadway shows,” he said.
