Apparently ideas like this occur and are developed somewhat in parallel because for the last two weekends, the theater department here at Mercer University has been using the basic framework of Dungeons and Dragons to create a heroic saga with the participation of audience members.
5 comments:
This is incredible! I saw the words Dungeons and Dragons and clicked immediately having no idea the journey this article would take me on. I played DnD consistently in my sophomore year of high school with the friends I made working in the scene shop, and would play one-shot games or short campaigns for the rest of high school whenever people were in town once the majority of those friends graduated. While the role-playing was not something I adored because of stage fright and general anxiety about being both useful and funny, I really enjoyed the games I played and would implore everyone try it at least once. The idea of using this well known model for an interactive show is ingenious. Improv in theater and in DnD has been separated for so long despite the clear overlap it has so I can't believe someone didn't come up with this sooner, but I'm glad it exists now. Like one of my awesome professors said, constraints breed creativity. I feel that DnD is a great example of that, and I am surprised it wasn't used by improv groups before. Despite how excited I am after reading about how successful the show was, I would be absolutely terrified to be involved in a show like this. There are so many uncertainties, but that is the nature of improv.
Dungeons and Dragons is such a household name, and cultural staple, that I feel like in some capacity everyone has either played it, or knows of it. One of the most fascinating things about D&D is the ability to play as someone who is not yourself. You have the opportunity to adventure and explore without being confined to your own "human" self. While most of the times the stories are so vivid, you can see the quests playing out in your head, it's wonderful to be able to see this adventure materialize in the form of a live show. The creators were incredibly smart in picking this theme that is very familiar to audiences, in the sense that they know what could happen, but the joy out of being able to participate and be part of a show that is going to be unpredictable, makes for what seems like, an awesome show. I also admire the fact that it provides a chance not just for the actors to improv, but the designers as well. It’s not very often that we’re told to just, use wing it using your creative knowledge. Being prepared for anything equips the designers to better quickly interpret the relationship between story meanings and their creative implications.
Today, the idea of audience involvement is growing rapidly into the realm of theater. Since thee performances are live, why not let the audience really buy-in to this world by letting them have a part to play and even letting them decide the direction that the piece takes. This idea takes on a whole other level of challenges from technology to improvisation by the actors and even the safety of the entire sequence. By getting the audience involved in deciding the outcome, the actors get much more broad directions and have to be ready for many different scenarios. Also, it often falls to the creation of technology as a means of getting the audience to vote on the next actions. In the many projects I have observed, creating this technology to be as unique as each show needs it, it difficult and not quite supported enough to be reliable.
This is so fun! While I know we love to see how we can make technology part of our audience participation, having been to several audience participation performances (Sheer Madness, anyone?) having the audience be verbal in their participation is always more satisfying as it can become part of the entertainment. As someone who engages in table top role playing games (with joy and gusto!) I have to say, I wish I could see this and be involved. Can you imagine being on the tech staff of this? The Stage Manager? The moment of "Ok...so...Do we have a prop that we can toss on stage for that off stage? What props should we have ready?"
Sheer Madness is one of the longest running shows in Boston and has several other places it performs. It's "who dunnit" murder mystery set in a hair salon where the audience helps "solve" the crime by essentially voting on who did it. The ending changes depending on the audience, and the props that need to be ready are incredible. One character disappears to the bathroom for a very long moment and later when questioned he says he brushed his teeth while in there. A fellow audience member asked him where his toothbrush was. The actor grabbed his character's briefcase and pulled out a toothbrush. The same audience member than said "is it wet?" and the actor grinned and flicked the bristles in a way that they sprayed on the audience member. This is a show that's been running for actual decades and has a team that has seen it all and is prepared to make the right props. But something like this? I love the idea of just a giant props box filled with stuff off stage right and the audience suggesting something and stage management going "...yeah we can fake that with these items" What a wonderful and fun idea!
Wow, this article surprised me greatly. I mentally don't know how to classify it. Improv? Not? I love the innovation going into this production, taking something new, and expanding, going for it full out. I particularly love how much the cast and crew had to change on the spot. One thing people can strive for in theatre is consistency and this just thwarts that out of the water. As a kid I had some books that were structured where you could decide what the characters did and therefore have a different outcome each time you approached the book differently, and those books could be read over and over without getting boring. After re-reading the books as an adult, when cleaning out my stuff, I noticed some overall character arcs that happened throughout the books. I’m curious to see exactly what structure you notice from watching the show a few nights in a row. I would like to see the concept expanded to a wider audience to create a show that is more accessible to those who may not know the details of Dungeons and Dragons, while still having the plot and actions in the show be dictated by the audience/dice.
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