I've seen quite a lot of stuff this weekend - an almost overwhelming amount, really - and before I leave today I hope to get to see more. I've seen indie games and AAA titles; I've seen gaming hardware that might merit the term "excessive"; I've seen folks learning how to make games, and folks teaching the same; I've met producers and designers and press and a whole lot of marketers; I've seen some very creative cosplayers... good and bad.

The best thing I've seen at PAX is a play about a group of friends who play D&D, and what happens when one of them enlists to go to Iraq.

Last night at 10PM in the Naga theatre, a staged reading was held for Cameron McNary's play Of Dice And Men, and it was a wonderful surprise at the end of a very long day. I hadn't heard about the show at all until a few hours before, when I had the good fortune to run into a couple of the cast members wearing Critical Threat Theatre shirts in the elevator of my hotel; when somebody's wearing a shirt with a 20-sided die and the word "theatre" on it, you ask why. Well, I ask why, anyhow. And so I ended up laughing, applauding, and occasionally having something in my eye for a few hours last night when I probably should have been sleeping. It was an excellent tradeoff.

I didn't know what to expect going in - "Great Plays. About Geeks." is a catchy slogan, but I know firsthand that when gamers decide they want to engage in something creative, the results can be fantastic, but can also be fantastically bad. It's not an entirely untrue stereotype that leads to Youtube videos of hilariously awful live action roleplay, or the infamous "cast magic missile at the darkness" sketch. I wasn't sure whether I was in for something special, or just a run of really bad dwarf puns.

I needn't have worried. McNary's writing was genuinely funny the vast majority of the time, and surprisingly touching in the scenes where it needed to be. The play avoided tackling some of the bigger issues that might have arisen from its premise, but did so honestly; it isn't a show about the rightness of war, it's just a show about how the reality of it impacts a group of friends. It's a show about gaming culture, and how gaming together helps people relate to each other, helps them grow, and helps them cope. In its own words, it's a show about how sometimes (maybe "all the time"), pointless things really matter. Not coincidentally, that's also what PAX is about, so it played to a very receptive audience.

It also did have some really bad dwarf puns. They actually worked out pretty well.

The cast deserves mention for coming together very quickly as I understand it and doing an excellent job. Ordinarily when I'm talking about a play I would put a comma there, and continue with "especially so-and-so", but it was such a strong ensemble (and the play is so much an ensemble piece) that I'll just link to their cast page and tell you that everyone on it performed honestly, with a lot of humor and obvious love for their characters. Considering the difficulty of getting a work across in a staged reading, it was a very compelling performance, and I would pay to see them do a full run of it.

As luck would have it, I was able to do just that in advance, and so can anyone else who wants to. Critical Threat is trying to raise money for that cause, as the company itself is basically just the playwright, his wife, and a friend, and putting up a full production isn't cheap. I wouldn't expect anyone to donate money to them sight unseen, but the good news is you won't have to. The staged reading we saw last night was filmed, and some or all of it should be online in the not-distant future. When it is, if you have any love for this sort of thing (games, or theatre, or both - the first is assumed, because you are here), I recommend checking it out and deciding whether you'd like to help them out as well. [I should mention here perhaps that it is an adult show in language and nature, and while I certainly wasn't offended by anything, it probably shouldn't be screened for your kids without you seeing it first.]

My thanks to Cameron McNary and the cast & crew of Of Dice And Men for lifting many spirits last night and embodying successfully so much of what PAX has come to mean for its attendees. I wish everyone with a pass could have seen your show, and I hope that someday they get the chance to. Speaking for the sizable crowd that did make it, it certainly didn't seem like anyone went away disappointed.

Speaking for myself, my time was well spent. It was the best thing I've seen at PAX. Bravo.

Posted
AuthorEric Leslie