The Berserker Residents is dedicated to original works of alternative comedy with a pop-comic aesthetic. This team of Philadelphia-based specialists in site-specific overgrown kid theater consists of three mighty warriors - collaborators Justin Jain, David Johnson, and Bradley K. Wrenn. As a collective, these three Philly-based artists have spearheaded a comedic theatrical style that blends physical theatre, puppetry, music, sketch, and prop comedy to create compelling and fantastic theatrical events. As an ensemble, the team has worked with several other professional theatre artists including directors Adrienne Mackey, artistic director of Swim Pony Performing Arts, Oliver Butler, co-artistic director of the Debate Society and Dan Rothenberg, artistic director of Pig Iron Theatre Company and supporter of the artistic team’s past work.
The Berserker Residents first show, the Jersey Devil, premiered at the 2007 Philadelphia Fringe festival (Sept ’07). The successes of the Jersey Devil lead this fledgling ensemble to commit to a trilogy of shows, creating two more pieces for the following two fringe festivals (2008 and 2009). Their second show The Giant Squid, a scientific lecture gone awry of which the Philadelphia Inquirer said “The Giant Squid is innovative, packed with little surprises, fine-tuned, and wonderfully wacky… And it sizzles.”. The Following year the ensemble created “a delightfully goofy humanity-in-peril tale” (New York Times) the Annihilation Pointwhich later (Jan 2011) toured to the Abrons Arts Center in NYC. In 2010-2011 The Berserkers were also received two commissions: A Very Merry Xmas Carol Holiday Adventure Show (which was published by Playscripts Inc.) from Philadelphia based Theater Horizon and The Lapsburgh Layover at New York based Ars Nova.