Review by Hannah Fredriksson
Same Time Next Week is the story of a group of friends who start playing Dungeons & Dragons (D&D) to cheer up Mark, who has been diagnosed with leukaemia. Over the course of a year, the group gets the hang of the game and they find a lot of joy in having something light-hearted to look forward to each week, a way to momentarily escape from the things that are weighing on them. As Mark’s health wanes, the campaign helps them face some of their fears and vulnerabilities, but most importantly, it gives them the opportunity to share some epic highs and lows together. Inspired by a personal experience of writer and director Scott McArdle, it's an ode to making meaningful memories with the people we love.
As a roleplaying game, D&D is typically played out entirely within the imagination. While players at home have many options to visually represent their fictional world, such as painted models or special apps, TV shows and movies that feature D&D often rely on animation to illustrate the story. The stage, however, presents a unique challenge; how do you illustrate a fantasy adventure in real time on a bigger scale?
Enter the playful medium of puppetry.
If you, like me, grew up watching kids TV like Sesame Street or The Ferals, puppets take you back to a time of innocence and whimsy, with less pressure and no responsibilities – the perfect medium to illustrate escapism.
I was blown away by the diversity of the puppets, designed and built by Bryan Woltjen and Jesse Wood. I had forgotten that puppets could be more than simple muppet-shaped creatures with big gaping mouths and ping-pong ball eyes. They ranged in complexity from two-dimensional groggy tavern folk to an anatomically correct lizard, the latter of which featured in a sex scene that required all five performers to expertly pilot a flurry of limbs. A lot of care and attention to detail went towards a myriad of mechanisms for controlling mouths, illuminating eyes, and flexing feathered wings – it was a real smorgasbord of puppeting prowess.
This show felt like a pure and imaginative exploration of what you can achieve with puppetry beyond simply giving a character a face – from text message bubbles to a time lapse montage of the Dungeon Master (DM) studying to improve her world-building ability. It’s evident that a lot of love went into crafting every element to embed visual storytelling, such as inn signage that improves in quality as the DM gets better at shaping the fantasy world, or goblin skeletons that recognisably match their fleshy counterparts.
The production is incredibly sharp, witty and well-timed, a credit to the writing and the cast, who very much had their hands full with acting, singing and puppeteering. Nick Pages-Oliver (Mark) and Amberly Cull (Drew) both acted and directed the puppetry, imbuing so much creativity and emotion. Courtney Henri (Liz) and Tristan McInnes (Digby) also played lead roles and were both incredibly endearing as both their ‘real world’ characters and their puppet counterparts. Daniel Buckle rounded out the cast playing a slew of supporting characters to comedic effect.
A collaboration between writer Scott McArdle and composer Jackson Griggs, the songs were instrumental in immersing the audience in the fantasy world, including a raucous tavern drinking song (Shit Faced Seamus) and a delightfully devilish villain song that would make Scar and Ursula quiver in fear (What's So Good About Being Good). In the small space of the Blue Room Theatre, the music was at times a bit too loud for the unmiced performers.
The space was utilised creatively, harnessing the doorways in the Blue Room Theatre to divide the space for some scenes at the top and tail of the show. A little bit of standing is involved at these points, however this proved to be accessible for guests in wheelchairs. After the opening scene, the audience is required to pass through the performance space to get to the seating. Because of this a total lockout is enforced during the performance, which could be uncomfortable for some.
At two and a half hours with a fifteen minute interval it's quite a long performance, yet it was completely engrossing for the entire duration. The pacing feels like it has just the right amount of momentum to keep things engaging and exciting, and there is always something new and surprising in store.
As a D&D player myself, I loved the references to little aspects that make the world so rich and familiar, and the thrill of your fate being at the mercy of a roll of a die. Games like D&D give us the opportunity to create memorable moments with friends, and while they’re based in fantasy, they’re real in that they’re experiences we shared together. Scott McArdle and the team behind Same Time Next Week have captured that spirit with great admiration and love.
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