There are two main facets of my life. My love for video games and my commitment to theatre. I really doubled down in the social outcast, nerd department. What people tend to overlook about video games are how inherently theatrical they are. Throughout my life there have been various games that I can attribute to helping me onstage later down the road.
World of Warcraft
In a way, my fate was sealed when my brother introduced me to World of Warcraft (2004) at the naive age of nine years old. I immediately took to the rich lore of Azeroth (said world in question) and the thousands upon thousands of quests. It was addictive. I wanted to know absolutely everything about the game. Every mystery, every easter egg, every dark corner had to be dissected and theorized. Hilariously, my child self likely spent more time contemplating the storylines than the writers themselves did.
Seeing as World of Warcraft (2004) is a role playing game, a genre of game that by definition requires the player to assume a role, it wasn’t long before I took a more creative approach to the lore. My player characters developed backstories and lore of their own. I occupied myself with hypotheticals, “How would my character react to this major lore event"
"happening?” Little did I know that over twelve years later, I’d be asking myself the same question smothered in stage makeup, script in hand.
Script analysis is one of the most important aspects of acting, and one of my favorites. The current show I’m working on, The Game's Afoot, I have spent countless hours dissecting the motives of my character and the mystery itself with my director and co stars. With three separate people, I’ve had the same twenty minute conversation solely dedicated to figuring out if my character is lying or not (for the record I’ve concluded she isn’t). World of Warcraft (2004) instilled in me this thirst for understanding and character building.
Fallout: New Vegas
Fallout: New Vegas (2010) is often considered a juggernaut in gaming circles. Having been developed in only eighteen months, it’s truly impressive how the story is considered one of the most phenomenal in gaming. Obsidian, the developers, accounted for a large array of player choice and dialogue options. Famously, if the player’s intellect is low enough, speech options will be short and improper English similar to that of a caveman.
Player choice is seemingly one of the core aspects of development. Seeing as Fallout: New Vegas (2010) is a role playing game, players were given an incredible amount of freedom to build their character and shape them to their choosing. There are so many different routes the player can take throughout the story that leads to endless replayability.
Acting is all about making choices. All my theatre friends and I constantly make the joke, “That was a character choice.” It once again goes into the principal question of “based on my character’s backstory and personality, how would they react to this?” The philosophical and engaging storylines of Fallout: New Vegas (2010) form a perfect acting exercise for character development. For previous shows, I’ve done playthroughs of Fallout: New Vegas (2010) to tune into the philosophical sides of my character. The hypothetical nature of the activity doesn’t negate usefulness. Of course Millie Martindale from Perfect Arrangement will never be trapped in a post apocalyptic casino filled with a poisonous red cloud and cryptic holograms, but the emotional depth that exercise allowed me to explore better prepared me for when Millie’s entire way of life is being threatened in Act 2.
Disco Elysium
The most apt comparison I can give Disco Elysium (2019) is Dungeons and Dragons (1974). Out of every game on this blog, Disco Elysium (2019) by far provides the most player choice and freedom. It’s bitingly satirical, philosophical, and emotional. Personally, no other game I’ve experienced allows you to have a full conversation with your limbic system on how your life has fallen apart around you (albeit you can have a conversation with your brain in Fallout: New Vegas (2010)).
Disco Elysium (2019) allows for some of the best character development all while giving an incredibly complex storyline. Players can become any combination of things from a communist, hobo, art critic to a centrist, feminist, cryptozoologist. Players can define exactly who they want to play as. Disco Elysium (2019) introduces a much wider scope to explore the finer aspects of a character. My version of the main character may be played incredibly differently from my friend’s playthrough. This translates well into understudies and character choices once again. Two people may look at the same character in the same script and then portray them in completely different lights. Neither interpretation is incorrect or more valid than the other. Both people can point to lines in the script that led them to this
conclusion.
Pathologic 2
Pathologic 2 (2019) is the most theatrical game I’ve ever seen. The game begins and ends with the player, not the character they are playing, talking to the in-game director in a theater. From the start, the player is taught that they are an actor in this play. Everytime the player dies, they return to the same theater to get punished by the director for failing their role. There is an interpretation where every time the player dies, they are being recast as a new person taking on the role of the main character. Side characters that break the fourth wall, Tragedians, are dressed in traditional stage crew black with acting masks. It takes inspiration in various forms from famous playwrights Shakespear, Artaud, and Brecht. When speaking to a character, said character’s model is shown under dramatic stage lighting that helps with their characterization. There is actually a video essay on youtube further explaining pathologic through the theatrical avant-garde.
Pathologic 2 (2019) understands how video games are fundamentally a performance. It perfectly blends my two passions, and that's why it’s my favorite game. Role playing games are inherently an acting exercise, and the developers used that to strengthen their game as a whole.
Where Do We Go From Here?
Video games do not exist separate from other mediums. Great works have come out from synthesizing gaming with other mediums and genres of art. Like all forms of art, creativity is a strength in both acting and in game development. However unconventional it may sound, gaming can be a great tool for theatrics and vice versa as seen in Pathologic 2 (2019).
With seven years of acting experience under my belt including several principal and leading roles, I’d like to say I know my way around a script and stage. When looking back on all of my roles, I really have to consider how much of an exponential growth I’ve had. I’ve gotten significantly better at acting than I was when I started, and now I’m on my third leading lady role in a row. To reduce my increase in skill entirely to my relationship with gaming would be reductive and foolish. I’ve put in an incredible amount of effort and work over the years; however, I can attribute that I’ve picked quite a few tricks of the trade, behaviors, and general philosophies from these games I hold so dear to my heart.
Elizabeth Roth
I really like the connection you make hare about video games and theater. Using one to influence how you perform in the other is super interesting to me. Also, you have some good game choices here. A couple of them I'm unfamiliar with but I'll definitely be looking into them. Good luck on your future shows!
-Logan Taylor
Hi Elizabeth!
(Like everyone else, I suppose lol) I thought the connections you made between theater and video games were so interesting and I would never have thought about it like that! I really enjoyed reading about some of your favorite and most influential games, I hadn’t even heard of a few of them and now I will be checking them out! I think you’re completely right when you say, “Video games do not exist separate from other mediums”, and I think when people stop thinking of them as such, video games might start to be respected as much as one might respect a performance of Hamlet!
- Caroline Cords :)
I really like how you make a connection between video games and theatre. Honestly I have never thought in that way. I also am involved with theater and have been since fourth grade. I, too, have always loved to role play with some characters in video games when I was younger. I really like when you said "With three separate people, I’ve had the same twenty minute conversation solely dedicated to figuring out if my character is lying or not (for the record I’ve concluded she isn’t)." I find it very interesting how you were dissecting the character's choices and script to determine their true intentions and use that to ultimately help you in the game.
~ Alli Brown
The connection between theater and video games is something I've never considered. I feel like when you play any game, we tend to put ourselves in the shoes of the main character, so it was cool to read about how you learned from these characters to improve your acting skills. I liked the line that says, "Video games do not exist separate from other mediums" because video games are not often though of as an art but in reality there is so much thought and detail put into every aspect of a video game like the characters, setting, and plot line.
Really interesting, I wouldn't have thought about these two things together. I've also had a long passion for theatre, and I'm taking a class about it now and it definitely involves some of the role-playing you experience through video games! I think to really get the benefits you describe, deep immersion into the material is crucial. Whatever form of practice you take is certainly seeming to work out for you, that's awesome. I've never heard of Pathologic 2, it's super cool that it so literally involves theatre in the world-building. Great job!
-Clara Kelly