Masque pushes the limits of technology in theatre

Mike (James "Roy" Nichols), and Nicholas (Michael Tuxbury) are two twenty something gamers looking for real love in a virtual world. Photo by Marc Cryan

Defined as a "virtual romantic comedy" on the playbill, Nobody Knows You're A Dog is a hilarious take on the lives of eight virtual reality gamers and the characters they play. The world premiere of Dean O'Donnell's new play took place Thursday night to a small but enthusiastic house.

Seated on either side of the stage like two sets of bleachers watching a football game gave the feeling of being right in the middle of the action. On one side of the stage, characters were reenacting World War II, and on the other side four brave characters took on the evil wizard Madrigor. Each of them was a virtual character, belonging to one of the eight gamers who soon took the stage.

The frustrations of the gamers soon become evident. When a character is killed off in the game, the controller either has to start over with a new one or wait 30 days to get the character back. Not only that, but the four guys playing in "The Battle of Britain" acutely feel the lack of girls in their game, and the three girls and token gay man who play in "Miragia," wonder what it would be like to play with males who aren't either fourteen or gay. When a character belonging to James (Anthony Forester), is killed while playing The Battle of Britain, he convinces his friend Daniel (Andy Grant), to play in Miragia with him while he waits out his thirty days before he can get the character back. Their mission is to pick up chicks, so they get two female characters and off they go. Their female characters, Vera (Addi R. Butler) and Felimone (Sue Foss) lie about their status point so other girls will play with them.

Meanwhile, the characters of Brett (Laura Horning) and Bob (Jony Balbony) are killed battling the wizard, and so they decide to try out The Battle of Britain. Bob takes on the female character of Babette (Josette Jaecksch) and Brett takes on the male character of Mickey (Fred Cassellius). Soon Bob won't tell Brett where he is in the game and Brett has started to really like a character in her game. Nigel (Matt Tucker) takes Mickey under his wing immediately. The only problem is that Nigel's controller Nicolas (Michael Tuxbury) has no idea that Mickey is played by a girl.

Brilliant performances by Foss, Casselius and Tucker really gave life to this show. Tucker's portrayal of Nigel as a very driven fighter pilot who has a preoccupation with death is vastly amusing and plays well off Casselius' portrayal of Mickey, a blundering and inexperienced gunner with a penchant for calling everybody a poophead. Foss's attempts to woo and impress the girls rang from funny to suicidal, as she takes on three swamp orcs all by herself with a Bruce Lee impersonation.

The greatest comic relief of the show by far was portrayed in the characters of Nog, Glurg, and Fettle, the three swamp orcs of Miragia who "like to bash things." After the death of Fettle (Justin Cole), Glurg (Randall Wainwright) and Nog (Elliot Field) eat their dead friend to honor him. Their funny antics continue right through to the end, where their secret weapon, "Swamp Gas," saves the day.

In the second act, the sexual tension between various players reaches a high. The boys playing in Miragia have crushes on the girls, who they think like them back- but that can't be a good thing, since they never told the girls that they were male. Meanwhile Bob/Babette starts a romance with Mike's Character Roger (Chad Pytel). Mike (James Nichols) denies to Nicolas that he is gay but Nicolas has problems of his own- he likes Mickey and that disturbs him, since he is straight and thinks that Mickey is a man. The topic on everyone's mind is Nodecon, their game's annual convention, where they are all hoping to meet each other and resolve their relationship status.

The cast must be commended for such a magnificent performance. Attention to detail was amazing and the set was nothing short of breathtaking. Especially impressive was the musical soundscape, which was created on the fly using a MIDI keyboard by Audio Designer Deb Shea. Dog is a fantastic show with a fantastic ensemble. It is doesn't require too much thought and takes you away into the fantasy worlds of its characters. This is definitely a show which should not be missed.