'Space' oddity lands at the Brick

By Meredith Deliso

“Plan Nine from Outer Space” may be the worst movie ever made, but that’s not stopping one theater troupe from bringing it to the stage.

From Oct. 8-31, the Brick Theater in Williamsburg will host DMTheatrics’ take on Ed Wood’s classically bad film about aliens and zombies that take over the earth.

“It’s partially a spoof of the original movie and a spoof of every sci-fi and action movie cliché,” said director Frank Cwiklik. 

“Ed had no skill, ability, talent, no craft whatsoever, but he had enthusiasm, and instinctively knew how to keep an audience happy,” he added. “So this show, much like Ed’s movies, is solely meant to entertain you.”

There’s definitely lots to work with. “Plan Nine” plays and looks like the 1950s sci-fi thriller on which it is based, beginning with a trio of flying saucers descending upon a suburb of Los Angeles, using — what else — power rays to raise the dead in a plot to take over the earth. And it’s up to a bumbling duo of cops to save the day.

Wood may have thought otherwise about his own talents, but Cwiklik and company are well aware of the script’s limitations — from awful, comically casual dialogue, a poorly built set that had tombstones falling over, and three completely different actors playing the same part. They also keep to the do-it-yourself look of the original, without betraying the troupe’s own aesthetic.

“I want shows to look like they cost 10 times as much as they did,” said Cwiklik. “I don’t want to give away too many surprises, though you will believe a saucer can fly.”

This isn’t the first time DMTheatrics has brought a familiar text to new light. A previous adaptation of “Macbeth” — called “Bitch Macbeth” — was a futuristic S&M fantasia.

“We want to get people attracted to theater, people who are often scared off from bad experiences — maybe dragged to a bad production of ‘Hamlet’ in high school — get excited and entertained, and come back again,” said Cwiklik. “Our theater is a gateway drug.”

“Plan Nine from Outer Space!” at the Brick Theater [575 Metropolitan Ave. near Lorimer Street in Williamsburg, (718) 907-6189], Fridays and Saturdays at 10 pm, Oct. 8-16; and Thursday through Saturday at 10 pm; and Sundays at 8 pm from Oct. 21-31. Tickets $20. For info, visit www.dm-theatrics.com.