Photo by Frank Pinc In the play, Henry Barrett plays a journalist with the Critical Eye newspaper.

If you go ... "Zombie Project: The Sad World" Fridays at 6 p.m. and Saturdays and Sundays at 1 p.m. Dec. 7 through Dec. 16 Gorilla Tango Theater, 1919 N. Milwaukee Tickets: $10

Brain Surgeon Theater in Bucktown presents "Zombie Project: The Sad World," a collaborative creation of script and characters by kid and adult cast members, culminating in a one hour rock 'n' roll manifestation of politics and chaotic schemes at a mega mall.

Themes of political scandal, non-nuclear families, journalistic integrity and rebellion against capitalism explode with energetic song and dance in this fun, fast-paced production designed for families of all ages.

"Throw off the plastic shackles of your worldly needs and wants, burn your MasterCards with us and shred your Gucci pants," from "Manifesto" and "What about you sitting out in the crowd, wondering how all these voices got loud, no one can do it behind a locked door, find someone like you who wants to live more," from "Stars N' Sparkles (No More Apathy)" are just a few, fun lines from the songs audiences can expect to hear.

Unlike typical children's theater, Brain Surgeon Theater brings kids and professional actors together not only onstage but in the creative process of forming the script and characters.

Lily Moore, a fifth grader at Franklin Fine Art Center, enjoyed creating her character, a disgruntled mall employee gone goth.

"This is a fun way of expressing myself," Moore said. "We wrote this ourselves and I really liked it-I like the idea of being a freaky goth person because I really like scary stuff, and Gwen is a good writer, she made it fun."

Gwen Tulin, director and Bucktown resident, said writing the script for "The Sad World" was a three-tiered project.

"We came in with the theme of zombies and went from there," Tulin said. "We basically sat around a huge sheet of paper as a big group and threw out every idea anyone had ... and brainstormed what they might say. I would take that material and later in the week have a meeting with the adult actors in the cast, where we would further hone the ideas the whole group had come up with."

After brainstorming and discussing, Tulin would take the ideas that had developed into more detailed plot lines and write the script.

Multiple story lines intersect as Cynthia Blagojevich, fresh out of jail, returns to Washington D.C., to coax her sister Constance, editor at the local newspaper, and all its journalists, to help her win a political seat and destroy the reputation of her competition, the self-important Mitch Pickle. Meanwhile, peeved and wildly animated employees at the local mall are not prepared for the anti-marketing and capitalist actions taken against them by Pickle's kids.

The 14-member cast, eight kids and six adults, successfully portrays characters of all ages. The mixing of child and adult characters into intergenerational roles is all too hysterical as the anti-establishment siblings, one a 13-year-old played by a 22-year-old, must fool a 300-year-old perfume counter manager, played by 7-year-old, Stella Barrett.

"I play a 300-year-old lady and I don't know how I do it, I just do it," Barrett said. Barrett's 10-year-old brother, Henry, plays a knowledge-thirsty journalist for the Critical Eye newspaper.

"My dad is a journalist, so he's proud of me," said Barrett. "One day I want to be a journalist, or maybe a spy."

A snotty, smart-mouth, teenage retail employee is played by Melanie Renae, 23, who said Brain Surgeon Theater has given her the most unique experience in children's theater.

"I've worked with kids but not in the sense that it was for and about them in terms of involvement," Renae said. "I've done children's theater before but it was for and not with the kids, but for this, we worked with the kids, it was a true collaboration."

Tulin said even the name of the play was thought up by the kids.

"During a brainstorming session they said as a sort of an aside that they imagined this being a "Sad World" (capitalization theirs), and it was totally right, and everyone felt it," Tulin said.

Tulin, a recent graduate of Brandeis University, came to Chicago from the East Coast in February, after she took the position as artistic director at Brain Surgeon Theater.

"I had a feeling when I visited out here at the end of my senior year that this was simply the most accessible place to come and do what you want to do as an artist," Tulin said. "Also, it is way cheaper here-I like being able to eat and having a living room more than three by five feet."