One can be forgiven for thinking Out Of Character is only a love story for geeks. A play about role-playing nerds, "gamers" or whatever you want to call them, with references to World of Warcraft, BSG (that's Battlestar Galactica to you non-geeks), and other facets of geek culture, may turn off anyone who thinks they're above all that. Well frak those people! There's a human being underneath that nerdy façade, one with feelings and emotions who just wants to be loved like everyone else. And sometimes one of those nerds happens to meet another nerd, and through the medium of Live-Action Role Playing (LARP), they even fall in love.
It's appropriate that this play is showing at the Fringe Festival. By definition, this play is all about people on the fringes of society, the ones that dress up in extravagant costumes and play-act characters straight out of fantasy and horror mythology. We mock them for being different, behind there backs and to their faces even. We throw stereotypes at them, but what's great about this play is it throws them back at us. Right from the start, the characters take turns shouting out the various labels us "normal" folk have given them - "geek," "freak." They're saying two things: 1) we know that we're geeks; 2) we're proud.
As the gamers act out a scene from one of their LARP games, we are introduced to the two protagonists - Nick and Dana - who in turn are portraying Dr. Gottlieb and Sibbolith respectively. Both have been reunited in the same club where they first met and start a love affair both in and out of character.
Their affair takes place both in the game and, more importantly, outside of it. As they spend more and more time together "out of character," their feelings for one-another get deeper and deeper, and that's when complications occur, in the real world and in the one they're inventing. Even their fellow gamers are affected by Nick/Gottlieb and Dana/Sibbolith's romance, taking sides and accusing one of manipulating the other. In the real world, Dana is married (to a douche bag named Colin), and Nick has a girlfriend. But are the feelings they have for each other real? Or are they too deep inside their characters that they can't distinguish what's real and what's fantasy?
These are the questions I came away with after watching Out Of Character. It made me think of the characters from Closer if they dressed up in costume and attended role-playing conventions. Fantasy aside, the love affair brewing between Nick and Dana is all too real and all too familiar.
Leeman Kessler and Adrianna Prosser are brilliantly cast as Nick and Dana respectively. I loved the awkwardness of their relationship, how their interactions with each other lead to embarassing moments, like whether or not to shake hands or hug, and how to say goodbye. Kessler is the perfect everyman, vulnerable and symptathetic, and Prosser absolutely kills it. They're surrounded by a great supporting cast of geeks/gamers, with Scott Sykes' Count Vincenzo being the stand-out.
If you're a fan of role-playing, you'll love this play. If you're a fan of serious romantic drama, you'll love this play. And if you're a fan of both, well it's pretty much game set match.
Venue 21: Cat’s Eye Lounge
Wed, July 1 8:00 PM
Thu, July 2 8:00 PM
Fri, July 3 8:00 PM
Sat, July 4 8:00 PM
Sun, July 5 8:00 PM
Mon, July 6 8:00 PM
Wed, July 8 8:00 PM
Thu, July 9 8:00 PM
Fri, July 10 8:00 PM
Sat, July 11 8:00 PM
Sun, July 12 8:00 PM
