Advanced D'n'D: The Next Campaign
Company Name: Red River Serial
Origin: Winnipeg, MB
Website: www.redriverserial.com
Venue: 6
Genre: Improv
View performance times
CBC Review:
Much like I'm slightly embarrassed by the first edition set of Dungeons and Dragons book in my basement (hey, it was the '80s...), I'm a bit sheepish about admitting how much I enjoyed the show.
But it's worth embracing your inner geek for this fun, adventurous hour of improvised theatre.
It's based, of course, on the Dungeons and Dragons roleplaying game beloved by basement-dwelling nerds everywhere. So if you have zero tolerance for wizards, knights, and monsters, it's not your show.
Each performance, a "dungeon master" oversees the clash between a gang of do-gooders and their evil foes. It's serial improv, so each show picks up where the last left off. From there, the whims of the dungeon master, the rolls of oversized dice, and the wits of the cast determine what will happen next.
With up to twelve characters (even the cast changes show-to-show - the episode I saw had eleven performers), this could be chaos. But the cast, including some of the city's better improvisers, are quick, and don't take themselves or the source material too seriously. Plus, with a gang of people on stage, there's usually someone to pick up any slack.
It's not a perfect system, though. The interjections of the dungeon master sometimes break the flow of the scene. There is sometimes too much happening on stage. And backing music that runs throughout the show occasionally drowns out the performers.
But for the most part, it's great, silly fun. This one rolls a 16 on a 20-sided die for entertainment.
Reviewed by: Joff Schmidt
