Improv RPG returns to FRINGE WORLD for its 8th year of improvised Dungeons and Dragons, and just in time for the 50th anniversary of the invention of the world’s most popular tabletop role playing game. Improv RPG will also be celebrating its 100th show on the final night of its current 3-show run, but sorry folks, that’s all sold out, so you’ll have to stick around for their next milestone, whenever that may come.
These young ‘theatre nerds’ continue to spread their love and passion for role playing games through the medium of improv, and their dedicated audience continues to grow. Their brand of improv has been a wildly popular phenomenon that garnered them a win for Best Comedy at FRINGE WORLD 2023 for Call of Cthulhu.
As a bit of an improv junkie, I have wanted to see what this format was all about for a while, but I have hesitated to get into an audience because I know practically zip, zilch, nada about the vast world of RPGs, let alone D&D. I thought I just wouldn’t get it. However, Improv RPG assures us that D&D knowledge or experience are not prerequisites for the show, so I decided to finally roll the dice and take a chance.
Dungeon Master Stephen B. Platt gives a thorough explanation of the show’s format and the proprietary D&D features that we would be seeing during the show, most importantly the dice and how it works to shape the story. He then introduces the NPC (non-player character), Kate Sophia Willoughby, who will be portraying several roles throughout the show, and musician Ryan Hunt. Finally he brings on the three players: Daniel Buckle, Sam Knox, and Harriet Hunt. The players have chosen their characters beforehand, but they each ask the audience for one additional character trait suggestion, just to add a little bit of nonsensical fun to the game.
Harriet Hunt plays Alaria (maybe? I’m never too sure when it comes to fantasy names), who seems to be the leader; she has a haughty air, some kind of magical attributes, and a sidekick goblin bard (got that one down for certain) named Bean, played by Sam Knox. And last but not least, Daniel Buckle plays Colin Der, who is made of metal and adorned in various metallic items, like a colander (obviously). He likes to kill and smash into things and isn’t very smart, and I’m sure that makes him of a particular character class – though of which one, I am less sure.
In any case, Platt gives the players their scenario: they are on a ship, about to cross through deadly waters on the way to Baldur’s Gate, where there is a war. They have to find the ship’s navigator who has gone missing, and a chocolate coin for some reason, and make it through the rough waters to Baldur’s Gate in one piece.
The aspect of this format that I found puzzling was how the quest/campaign/story unfolds; I never quite worked out whether the DM and the NPC had pre-planned certain plot devices, providing a mystery for the players to solve, or whether only the DM had this foreknowledge, or even whether the plot points/devices were pre-planned or improvised in the first place. This uncertainty left me feeling a bit unmoored at times, but luckily just in those exact moments, Colin Der would chime in with some ridiculous line, or Bean with a silly tune, and suddenly I had a laugh and an anchor.
In the end, though, I didn’t need to worry about my total ignorance of this world getting in the way of my enjoyment of Improv RPG’s shows. I might’ve scratched my head a couple of times, but mostly I followed along, enjoyed the surprises, and had a good time. Sometimes it’s good to go into the theatre and be a little bit out of your depth; in those moments, you just gotta…roll with it.
CICELY BINFORD
Dungeons and Dragons runs at the State Theatre Centre of WA from 27 – 30 January as part of State of Play at FRINGE WORLD. For tickets and more information click here.
