Dungeons, Dragons, and Drama!
Roll Models succeeds on its charisma saving throw!
Roll Models developed by The ArtFolk Collective, partnered with The Kick & Push Festival, is a new theatrical work focused on bringing the fantastical world of Dungeons & Dragons (D&D) to the stage. The improvisational story takes a new shape every night as the Dungeon Master (DM) Tyler Check begins the show by asking an audience member about a recent adventure they have been on.
From there, his four “Roll Models” (Alicia Barban, Josh Blackstock, Callum Lurie, and Sayer Roberts) introduce themselves as their characters, which have been created only moments before from stories developed by four audience players. During this time, Check prepares an hour and a half campaign/story in mere minutes that is sure to provide an evening of entertainment and laughter.
For any experienced DM, creating an hour and a half of content in a few minutes is already an admirable feat. Check takes this to another level with his impeccable intuition for word play, observational comedy, and voice work. Throughout the performance, he also controls all of the sound (voice effects/levels, sound effects, and music tracks) himself. What Check becomes is an atmosphere maestro bridging the gap between the show and the audience’s imagination.
Herein however lies my first issue with the piece—it asks for a great deal of the audience’s willing suspension of disbelief. As a show in development, there are a few traditional theatre aspects that some enthusiasts may find to be lacking. The first of these is arguably minimal set and sparse dynamic blocking. Considering that the only notable set piece was the DM’s table with a curtain backdrop, Roll Models could have greatly benefitted from a simple black box set including cubes of different sizes. This would have allowed the actors to achieve different levels throughout the piece which would enhance the audience’s experience of the show.
Additionally, I found myself craving a higher level of interaction from the characters themselves. One of the best parts of both D&D and theatre is observing how the characters interact, grow, and become better or worse versions of themselves. The characters in this improvisational tale feel more akin to accessories rather than vehicles for the story to move forward. That said, the actors fully commit to each and every moment that Check narrates making for a highly comedic improv show.
Surprisingly, most of the artists involved have a level of stage combat training so it would have been exciting to see this experience come through the action of the play. But for almost all of the combat, they stand by in character idly, reminiscent of video games like Final Fantasy. It was amusing to see the group pay homage to the battle styles of older role playing video games, but I hope moving forward they are able to find a way to make combat more engaging and entertaining for the audience and to allow this sort of blocking to exist as a tribute.
Most of these issues could be resolved with a fifth performer that fulfils the role of a swing. The potential performer could move a box set around to depict the scenes Check creates through storytelling and quickly switch simple costume pieces to become enemies for the party to fight/interact with. This single edition could alleviate most of the issues listed thus far and I am excited to see if such implementations will exist in future iterations of the show.
Without a doubt, the best way to experience this show is as an audience player. It is the same price as the audience ticket—which is wild given how much more you get! You will be asked to arrive a bit early to the performance, create your own character, and learn the basics of D&D. It is an exciting experience to create your own character and backstory, deciding how your character will interact with the fantastically hilarious plots that Check develops from a recent adventure an audience member has experienced. For anyone that is even mildly interested in D&D, this is the route to go for enjoying the performance.
Credit must be given to each of the performers as well. Their commitment to play and the absurdly comical scenarios Check places them in compensates for most of the issues listed earlier. For each actor to potentially portray a different class and character each performance is a challenge that is greeted with fervor and gusto by each performer. More impressively, none of the actors upstaged each other or were domineering in their characters making for a balanced holistic improv performance—a rarity in the style!
One outstanding aspect of this performance is how versatile Check is as the DM and conductor of the performance. While he is writing, telling, and guiding the story, he manages to find the time and precision necessary to add vocal effects to his various NPC’s, play music for epic/tragic moments, and layer the performance with music that has been composed by performer, Sayer Roberts.
Roberts deserves more work as a composer and sound designer based on his compositions. If I was not directly told that Roberts designed these tracks, I would have believed that they were from an epic film soundtrack. This one aspect of the performance elevated the intensity, humour, and drama of the piece giving the audience that ever so important access point to fully investing in the story.
All in all, for a piece that is in the early stages of development, this is an absolute pleasure and an incredible way to spend an evening. I was blown away with how deftly the team teaches D&D, draws the audience into the story, and executes high levels of improvisational comedy. I believe that if The Art Folk Collective can continue exploring this show concept and develop it further that it could become a sensational experience for any D&D and theatre enthusiast.
Roll Models presented by The ArtFolk Collective runs from August 18th-25th, 2021. Check out The Kick & Push Festival for tickets and more information regarding showtimes.AUGUST 30, 2021