Gamer Love Triangle Fuels Off-Broadway Production
Gamer Love Triangle Fuels Off-Broadway Production
January 29, 2009
A new off-Broadway production centers around an unusual theme: a romantic triangle involving a pair of gamer pals.
Today's New York Times offers a lukewarm review of When in Disgrace (Haply I Think on Thee). The play revolves around the relationship between teen gamers Ryan and Ben, as well as Caroline, who used to be Ryan's girl but now is with Ben.
Unfortunately, the play appears to evoke the common cultural imagery of gamers as latent powderkegs. From the NYT review:
The play traces Ryan’s spiral into homicidal dementia over Ben’s “betrayal...”
The depiction of Ryan and Ben’s video-game confrontations also overamplifies the conflict. As the boys duel on a sofa, life-size silhouettes battle behind a scrim to twofold effect: thudding as a metaphor for character dynamics, impressive as a glimpse into the role of ultraviolent fantasy in the life of many adolescents. The production is well served by audio snatches of the bands System of a Down and Linkin Park, among others...
As the outcast [Ryan] has the juiciest role; he savors his malevolence, maybe too visibly... “When in Disgrace (Haply I Think on Thee)” may falter in its grand designs, but there is something vital in its exploration of generational identity...
A synopsis on Theatermania reports that the production is based on a true story:
Inspired by a true story, When in Disgrace (Haply I Think on Thee) weaves a tale of shattered hope and personal destruction as three close friends are torn apart by jealousy, neglect, guilt, and ultimately, love. Combining rock music, iambic verse, and video games, When In Disgrace explores what leads youngsters to extreme acts of violence, and the eerie similarity between teenage melodrama and classical drama.
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Posted 11/08/09 at 01:07am
Austin_Lewis: Health insurance, brought to you by the same kind of bureacrats who couldn't, in timely fashion, investigate the comments of any of the men Obama appointed Czars. Or their past. Or their history of not paying taxes.
Austin_Lewis: Health insurance, brought to you by the same kind of bureacrats who couldn't, in timely fashion, investigate the comments of any of the men Obama appointed Czars. Or their past. Or their history of not paying taxes.
Posted 11/08/09 at 01:06am
Austin_Lewis: Yes, and what a piece of crap it was. Arresting and fining people just because they don't make a personal choice to buy healh insurance, creating over a hundred new bureacracies, and worse.
Austin_Lewis: Yes, and what a piece of crap it was. Arresting and fining people just because they don't make a personal choice to buy healh insurance, creating over a hundred new bureacracies, and worse.
Posted 11/08/09 at 12:24am
ZippyDSMlee: JDKJ:the only trouble is a bunch of witless hacks wrote it....its going to be a train wreck....
ZippyDSMlee: JDKJ:the only trouble is a bunch of witless hacks wrote it....its going to be a train wreck....
Posted 11/07/09 at 11:33pm
JDKJ: BREAKING: In a photo-finish at the wire, House passes health care reform bill. Relatedly, in a fit of pique, Austin Lewis kicks innocent dog.
JDKJ: BREAKING: In a photo-finish at the wire, House passes health care reform bill. Relatedly, in a fit of pique, Austin Lewis kicks innocent dog.
Posted 11/07/09 at 04:27pm
ZippyDSMlee: man I got alot of junk and dup files too >< god I need orginization...and no not the knee capping media mafia kind :P
ZippyDSMlee: man I got alot of junk and dup files too >< god I need orginization...and no not the knee capping media mafia kind :P
Posted 11/07/09 at 04:26pm
ZippyDSMlee: replaced :P
ZippyDSMlee: replaced :P
Posted 11/07/09 at 04:23pm
ZippyDSMlee: beemoh:hey its like 60GB porn,400GB anime 100GB games and crap I have took from all my DVDs, I hate waiting on dvds to install stuff..... oh and 40GB of my porn was in the found.000 folder...mostly corrupted.... least I got names of wut needs to be repa
ZippyDSMlee: beemoh:hey its like 60GB porn,400GB anime 100GB games and crap I have took from all my DVDs, I hate waiting on dvds to install stuff..... oh and 40GB of my porn was in the found.000 folder...mostly corrupted.... least I got names of wut needs to be repa
Posted 11/07/09 at 04:18pm
beemoh: @Zip: ...and you'd have to spend all that time re-downloading that porn?
beemoh: @Zip: ...and you'd have to spend all that time re-downloading that porn?
Posted 11/07/09 at 03:34pm
ZippyDSMlee: ggrrrrr......vista lost one of my hard drives and I had a heart attack thinking I lost 1TB of data....
ZippyDSMlee: ggrrrrr......vista lost one of my hard drives and I had a heart attack thinking I lost 1TB of data....
Posted 11/07/09 at 10:58am
JDKJ: Which could be explained by both (a) and (b).
JDKJ: Which could be explained by both (a) and (b).
Posted 11/07/09 at 10:56am
Austin_Lewis: JDKJ: You forgot C) the fact that, for some reason, every time he did something that would suggest he shouldn't be in the military, let alone an officer, higher ups ignored it or let it slide.
Austin_Lewis: JDKJ: You forgot C) the fact that, for some reason, every time he did something that would suggest he shouldn't be in the military, let alone an officer, higher ups ignored it or let it slide.
Posted 11/07/09 at 10:51am
JDKJ: Part of the problem is, I believe, that (a) the Army had a lot of time and money already invested in him and which they were unwilling to simply write-off and (b) an increasing need for the type of skills and services he provided.
JDKJ: Part of the problem is, I believe, that (a) the Army had a lot of time and money already invested in him and which they were unwilling to simply write-off and (b) an increasing need for the type of skills and services he provided.
Posted 11/07/09 at 10:48am
JDKJ: And that even if he was begging not to get cut loose, he was apparently a real good candidate for being cut loose, anyway.
JDKJ: And that even if he was begging not to get cut loose, he was apparently a real good candidate for being cut loose, anyway.
Posted 11/07/09 at 10:11am
JDKJ: @chada: And while Kennedy once noted that there's usually more than enough blame for everyone to get a slice, the possibility that the Army was unwilling to cut loose someone who was asking to get cut loose could be a factor.
JDKJ: @chada: And while Kennedy once noted that there's usually more than enough blame for everyone to get a slice, the possibility that the Army was unwilling to cut loose someone who was asking to get cut loose could be a factor.
Posted 11/07/09 at 10:07am
ZippyDSMlee: *noms on his feet*..nomnomnomnom*droooll* ...wuuutttttt uuu looking at?
ZippyDSMlee: *noms on his feet*..nomnomnomnom*droooll* ...wuuutttttt uuu looking at?
Posted 11/07/09 at 10:05am
JDKJ: I'm no psychologist, but I'm told that crazy people have a tendency to do crazy things.
JDKJ: I'm no psychologist, but I'm told that crazy people have a tendency to do crazy things.
Posted 11/07/09 at 10:03am
chadachada321: Whoops, was out of the convo for awhile. I do wonder what type of ammo he used etc, but the real issue is WHY he did it, not HOW
chadachada321: Whoops, was out of the convo for awhile. I do wonder what type of ammo he used etc, but the real issue is WHY he did it, not HOW
Posted 11/07/09 at 09:56am
JDKJ: But if it turns out that they actually did, they'll have Hell to pay.
JDKJ: But if it turns out that they actually did, they'll have Hell to pay.
Posted 11/07/09 at 09:45am
JDKJ: And I'd tend to rule out the possibilty of FN Herstal supplying restricted ammunition to someone merely because they're ordering it from a military base.
JDKJ: And I'd tend to rule out the possibilty of FN Herstal supplying restricted ammunition to someone merely because they're ordering it from a military base.
Posted 11/07/09 at 09:37am
JDKJ: I know you don't leave your gated community and get around much in dark alleys, so you may be surprised to learn that there's this thing called "the black market" where, if you've got enough money, ain't too much of anything which can't be bought.
JDKJ: I know you don't leave your gated community and get around much in dark alleys, so you may be surprised to learn that there's this thing called "the black market" where, if you've got enough money, ain't too much of anything which can't be bought.
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Comments
I don't know about off-Broadway productions, but I've been involved in the Canadian Fringe scene for quite a few years, and I can tell you most of the theatre business doesn't really have a sense one way or the other about gaming.
Besides which, theatre audiences tend to be a little more discerning, so for the most part they'll probably take the performance with a grain of salt.
---
The Mammon Industry
"off-"broadway must really be hurting...
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Not a title that rolls off the tongue, is it. I am reminded of ads for "WTF!?: A Tale Of Online Love" from GTA4
I think the biggest question raised by this story is what game is 100% responsible for turning a 100% passive boy into a brutal psychotic murderer? I'll bet it was that evil Pong!
Also if system of a down & linkin park are the best music this poor bastard had to help ease the pain, it's no wonder he went nuts. If he'd only had real metal...
...Caroline, who used to be Ryan's girl but now is with Ben.
The play traces Ryan’s spiral into homicidal dementia over Ben’s “betrayal...”
Don't you see? This play isn't about videogames causing violence, it's about women causing violence. Clearly we should ban women.
....wait.
Banning is never the answer, they should have age ratings and content summaries
Stick warning labels on their asses.
<pictures all the black eyes to come because guys were staring at women's asses>
...probably not the best location.
Stick the label on their chest. That is where guys are staring anyway.
E. Zachary Knight
Oklahoma City Chapter of the ECA
http://www.theeca.com/chapters_oklahoma
But then in New York, we'd have to keep the mature-rated women in glass cases.
...Hmm.
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The Mammon Industry
One lame broadway play to pose gamers as the mentally unsettled, Teenage stereotype.
Indeed. I guess this'll continue making gamers look like homicidal people ready to go insane over the loss of a woman. Even silly JT's story of "O.K." killing game developers sounds better... which I feel stupid for saying :(
Someone shoot me for saying JT had a better story.
Anyway, as lame as this broadway play is, we can only hope it performs poorly and that it focuses on the teenage aspect of being susceptible to drama in the teenage years and not the gaming aspect, which they are trying to play -.-
They should've went brokeback mountain with it, probably would've worked better.
The real gamer stereotype that exists is that we're in the workforce, and have blue&white collar jobs and simply enjoy our hobbies when we get home...
Anyone able to zero in on the story it's based off of?
I see alot of sertotypes here teenage,bad wrtiting, love tringle and gamers......
Gore,Violence,Sexauilty,Fear,Emotion these are but modes of transportation of story and thought, to take them from society you create a society of children and nannys, since adults are not required.
http://zippydsmlee.wordpress.com
Heh, Shakespeare was covering this kind of stuff centuries ago, and anyone who's seen West Side Story knows that it is 100% portable.
I don't have a problem with the idea of the play, though I'm a bit dubious about this whole 'exploring the reasons' thing, it's a story, let it be a story, you don't really have to justify it beyond that point, it's kind of sad that in todays society, everyone seems to think you do.
GoodRobotUs
I'd say the reason can be a story within a story..but not many of those called writers can make the story's within a story all that worth while.
Gore,Violence,Sexauilty,Fear,Emotion these are but modes of transportation of story and thought, to take them from society you create a society of children and nannys, since adults are not required.
http://zippydsmlee.wordpress.com
Honestly, this actually seems to be a fairly interesting story. Then again, I like theatre, and I'm getting sick of some of the mushy crap they put up on stage. This is less a story attacking gamers, and it seems more a story of a dispute between friends that gets magnified by the games, which we ALL know is possible.. Whether you like to admit it or not, some games are designed to bring out and amplify our emotions and many succeed in doing just that. The story has promise, but given it's reviews, I'm sure the play didn't quite capture that emotion.
"Whether you like to admit it or not, some games are designed to bring out and amplify our emotions and many succeed in doing just that."
Quite true. In fact, the same could be said of many dramatical plays. The point is to make an emotional connection and draw an emotional response. To 'tug at the heartstrings' if you will. In the end isn't most art supposed to be connected to on an emotional level?
Agreed.
Music affects me quite strongly, it can make me laugh, cry, feel elated or any other of a number of emotions, in fact that is its purpose. Same with all other kinds of media, if they did not evoke an emotional response, they wouldn't be art.
I must admit I got a bit misty eyed at the end of Grim Fandango when
(SPOILER [just in case])
Glottis can't come on the #9
(/SPOILER [just in case])
I don't see this as a play bashing gamers, it is more of a love triangle similar in a Teen soap opera type of show.
If you see the emotions that are involved in shows like Bold and the Beautiful, some characters litterly try to betray those who they hate. And this is without using videogames at all.
I see this play as using videogames to perform a fantasy type of violence instead of taking it out in real life violence.
The videogame violence seems to be more of a euphenisem or another way to portray the scene of two guys fighting over a girl and the writers have used videogames to make it more central to youth culture.
I know this is only just from my analysis from reading this, but I would rather see the play before I try to judge it in too much detail.
Also it is important to note that the reviewer might be an older person who has got verry little understanding of Videogames and the gamer culture.
I can say that if you looked at teenage life in the 90's, 80's, 70's, 60's, 50's and so on, when it comes to relationship disbutes they do become violent and that is without videogames at all.
Look at adult relationships...and the number of people who are divorced, in some minority and unfortunate cases how they have become violent between the parents.