“The Twenty- Sided Tavern”

[rating=3] Last week I attended a ZOOM version of “The Twenty-Sided Tavern” that was designed to give us a sample of what we were to expect on opening night. I thought it interesting but did not find myself laughing. Anyone who has been near me at a comedy knows that the performers know when I am in the house. It was with fear and trepidation that I asked Jane to leave her Netflix series and head down to The Broadway Playhouse at Water Tower Place. I also made mention of having dinner at Harry Carey’s. She agreed!

The play, which is two acts with an intermission designed to sell lots of drinks ( and make money) is a perfect entertainment for “gamers”. In fact, if I were to rate this for teens and young adults it would probably rate [rating=5].

Tonight’s Quest: The Temple of the Crystal Cauldron”. I am not sure if the story changes every night or twice when it is a two performance day, but let’s go with the idea that the story is never

exactly the same. It can’t be because the audience helps to move the story along the way using their phones. Yes, this theater WANTS you to have your cell on and operating. You scan in the lobby or from the program and you are ready to proceed. Your program has the color that you will be teamed with and you are ready to have some fun.

The game was designed by Sarah Davis Reynolds who is on the stage for the entire two hours and 25 minutes ( less the intermission) and David Andrew Greener Laws ( who wrote the script as well) and David Carpenter. DAGL ( short for David Andrew etc is the Gamemaster and plays many roles as the story unfolds.

There are three players: Green, Blue and Red. You vote for your color on individuals and in mass when asked. The current team known as Team Turkey is made up of Madelyn Murphy (Green/Rogue), Jack Corcoran as Rage ( blue) and Carlina Parker as Fighter ( red). There are alternates for these roles and come December Team Tinsel will take over but DAGL and Ms Reynolds will stay where they are. After all, this is their creation.

I do not want to give away any of the secrets of the show, but will tell you that the opening night audience was a young one and if the reviewers were not there, I think the average age would have been much lower. The younger people in the audience, those who play games like Dungeons and Dragons and the like were in heaven. They were ready to volunteer when called upon to do so and those who participated were in heaven I’m sure.

They call this a tabletop roleplaying game. If you have played these games you will be into it very quickly. This show is very new to the world and is being accepted everywhere it plays. Why not Chicago? We are savvy people. We have lots of “gamers”. I am sure that my grandsons and their friends would love the opportunity to be a part of this production.

It is not  really a play, but instead a theatrical experience where story telling and adventure are combined with “gaming” to entertain an audience who is very hungry to laugh and put the last two years of health scares behind them. If you are open to having a great time, then this is for you. If you are anti games and need an actual story, perhaps not. For those into gaming, this production will continue at Broadway Playhouse located at 175 East Chestnut in Chicago. This is part of The water Tower Shopping Center ( very different from the old days).

Performances are as follows:

Thursdays  7:30 p.m.

Fridays  7:30 p.m.

Saturdays  2 p.m.  and  8 p.m.

Sundays  2 p.m. and 7: 30 p.m.

SPECIALS- Wednesdays, 11/21 and  11/28   2 p.m. and 7:30 p.m.

NO PERFORMANCE ON THANKSGIVING,  Christmas Day and New Year’s Day!

For tickets visit www.BroadwayInChicago.com

To see what others are saying, visit www.theatreinchicago.com, go to Review Round-Up and click at “The Twenty -Sided Tavern”

If you park at Water Tower Place, make sure you get a validation ticket at box office- it will save you a lot of $