‘Dungeonmaster’ breaks traditional theater mold
PLAY:Audience is able to participate in storytelling of this game-based show
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| Magicopolis Theatre | ||
| Billy Campbell (l) and guest cast member act in 'Dungeonmaster.' | ||
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Daily Bruin Contributor
"All the world's a stage, and all the men and women merely players" – at least that's what William Shakespeare said. Most of the time, though, conventional theater confines itself to the parameters of a pre-arranged cast, forgetting the rest of the "world." In comes "Dungeonmaster," Bruce A. Young's theatrical incarnation of the popular role-playing game, Dungeons and Dragons.
Breaking from the mold of scripted theater, "Dungeonmaster" relies on audience participation to propel its story. Theatergoers can sign up when they enter Santa Monica's Magicopolis Theatre to be a part of the cast for the night. Anyone who's interested in being a prospective player fills out a character card, on which they indicate what kind of a role they would like to play – for instance, a warrior elf.
Names are then chosen, randomly, and the selected few who have been called to the stage become the members of a party that is given a mission to accomplish. They are furnished with weapons and costumes and the capacity to use 10 rhyming spells (which one must invent on demand according to the situation).
Whether they achieve their purpose is wholly dependent on them, for it is the participants' actions and reactions toward the people, monsters and situations around them that drive the story along its course. Subsequently, whichever way the story ends one night determines what the next night's story is going to be.
Unpredictable? You bet—but that's what makes this play so
unique. "Dungeonmaster" is the brainchild of film and television actor Young, who has been in "Jurassic Park III" and UPN's "The Sentinel," among other projects. A theater partisan himself, Young began working with the Organic Theatre Company in Chicago many years ago, and eventually created "Dungeonmaster," based on the role-playing game that he used to play.
"My immediate thought upon playing was how fun it would be to play this on our feet, if we could find a way to combine the game with the very big game of theater. So, I tried to incorporate the fairy tale of bringing the watcher into the adventure, to see what it would be like if we told a story and took some people and made them heroes," Young said.
The play opened in 1983, and had a four-year run at Chicago's Beacon Street Theater, which ended a year after Young moved to Los Angeles. He said he always wanted to revive the show in Los Angeles, and when his friend Kristin Intress, an actor and producer of "Dungeonmaster," discovered the Magicopolis Theater, she suggested the idea to the owners, who agreed to take up the production right away. It debuted in September, and has an open ended run.
The show ended up gathering a following in Chicago, having played for over 30,000 people during its run.
Among the followers was actor Billy Campbell, from ABC's "Once and Again," who is co-producing the show along with Young. Aside from giving Campbell a weekly dose of fantasy role-playing, the show also launched his career towards acting.
"I started going as an audience participant every weekend, and it was so much fun. Bruce eventually asked me to join, and it was my first professional acting job – it helped me want to be an actor," said Campbell.
The show has steadily been gaining a following in Los Angeles as well. Regulars, who have been following the story or are hardcore fans of the game, come out every weekend. Some are in full costume, ready to either take on a role with gusto, or to reprise their role from previous shows. Since character cards are kept filed, many "Dungeon" disciples often are able to retain the roles they made up for themselves for future cameos.
"People know all the words, all the characters, what they do. They come prepared, in fuller costume than we have. It's amazing, very encouraging," said actor Amy D'Allessandro.
Fortunately, it isn't necessary to have knowledge of the storyline if you are a first-timer because the story changes every week. Cast members agreed that for them, the show's lifeblood is its ever-changing quality, which is a direct result of integrating the audience into the play.
"We have no clue how it's going to end. It's up to the audience, they make the story," D'Allessandro said.
It may seem that incorporating amateurs into the performances would pose a struggle for the actors to do what they need to do, and would hinder the plot from developing. Members of the cast, however, say they adore working with the audience, and no matter what happens, there is no wrong ending.
"I really liked the part where the audience participated. It's not really my thing, Dungeons and Dragons, but the audience participation really did it for me. It had me laughing the entire time," said Maryam Javani, who attended the performance for the first time.
Young hopes that word of mouth will help strengthen "Dungeonmaster's" renown in L.A.
"L.A. is a huge community. If we can tap into that market, then 'Dungeonmaster' is destined for a very long life," he said.