Heroes And Gods And Monsters: Dungeoning & Dragoning At Circa Theatre

[Dungeons and Dragons] harkens back to an incredibly primitive mode of storytelling. [The Dungeon Master is] the tribal storyteller who gathers everyone around the fire to tell stories about heroes and gods and monsters. It’s a live, communal event, where anything can happen in the moment.” - David Lindsay-Abaire, Pulitzer Prize-winning playwright of Rabbit Hole

Let’s get this out of the way right off the bat: Dungeoning & Dragoning is a live show where a group of actors play a game of Dungeons and Dragons, a tabletop roleplaying game first released in 1974, while the audience watches. There is no script. There is little audience interaction and the audience is seated. There are few costume elements and the set is minimal. There are dice. There are pencils and paper. And there’s a 317-page rulebook that is meticulously followed to the letter.

“[Dungeons and Dragons] gave me a really strong background in imagination, storytelling, [and] understanding how to create tone and a sense of balance.”- Jon Favreau, Iron Man director

The “Dungeon Master” creates the world of the story ahead of time, replete with plot hooks and dramatic tales and colourful characters, and hopes to shepherd the players through their carefully crafted fantasy narrative during the course of the show. The players, having concocted their characters with no knowledge of the Dungeon Master’s carefully laid plans, improvise their way through the show’s scenarios. The final ingredient is the 20-sided dice, which the players roll to determine the success of their intended action. The higher the number, the higher the likelihood of success.

“The adventures I’ve had in Dungeons and Dragons will always be more exciting than anything they could put on a screen because it was me and I lived it, and it was spontaneous.” - Deborah Ann Woll, True Blood actor

The inclusion of the dice and its element of chance is perhaps what creates the delicious dose of schadenfreude that makes Dungeons and Dragons live shows so enduringly popular. There’s nothing more viciously entertaining than watching the gallant knight loudly state their intentions to cut off the goblin’s head and sail away with the damsel in distress, only to roll a 1 on the dice and fall flat on their face. Likewise, there’s a sort of wicked glee that comes from watching a player insist they’re going to attempt to seduce the evil Big Bad instead of fighting them, and watching the Dungeon Master’s face fall as their carefully laid plans of epic battles crumble into dust before their eyes as the player rolls a 20 – an instant seduction success.

“We welfare kids could travel, have adventures, succeed, be powerful, triumph, fail and be in ways that would have been impossible in the larger real world. D&D hit like an extra horizon.” Junot Díaz, Pulitzer Prize-winning author of The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao

But despite this comedic potential, at its core Dungeons and Dragons is fundamentally all about collaborative storytelling. The outcome is uncertain. The characters could perish. The townsfolk might not be saved. The players may not overcome their dark pasts. And no one, not even the Dungeon Master, knows how it’s going to unfold on the night. Which means every night is different, every show is unique, and every moment is palpably important.

“The first things that taught me about how words were beautiful were hip-hop and Dungeons and Dragons.” Ta-Nehisi Coates, Black Panther author

In Dungeoning & Dragoning, you’ll see a wild magic sorcerer played by Circa regular Gavin Rutherford (The Pantomime “Dame”, Top of the Lake, A View from the Bridge) join forces with Harriet Prebble (Massive Crushes, The Father, Gifted) and her cheeky forest gnome trickster cleric, Allan Henry (A Boy Called Piano, Mean Mums, Ghost in the Shell) and his tattooed and burdened ancestral guardian barbarian, and Dani Meldrum (The Surprise Party) and her mysterious horned rogue as they are led by Dungeon Master Ryan McIntyre (Black Christmas, Black Hands) playing every single other character in the entire world that they decide to interact with. (Yes, the Dungeon Master has the hardest job.)

“I always, always wanted to be the Dungeon Master because that’s where the creativity lies — in thinking up places, characters, and situations. If done well, a game can be a novel in itself.” Sharyn McCrumb, bestselling author of the Ballad novels

It’s improvised. It’s epic. It’s a little bit nerdy. It might go “wrong”, which is exactly the way that Dungeons and Dragons goes right.

"The point is, if you come into D&D as a 48-year-old man or an 8-year-old kid, you're gonna find an element of the game that'll be for whoever you are at that part of your life." Matthew Lillard, Scooby Doo actor

Drop in for a single night or follow the crew through their six-part adventure. Frequently hilarious, sometimes moving and always unpredictable, this is spontaneous, unscripted theatre controlled entirely by chance.

Six shows only 26 July – 30 August [OPENING NIGHT SOLD OUT]
Sundays at 4.30pm
Bookings at www.circa.co.nz 
Phone 801 7992

Ticket Prices: ADULTS $25, CONCESSIONS $20, FRIENDS OF CIRCA $18

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