Experiments 17: Non-Player Character
Written by Walt McGough
Directed by Bevin O’Gara
Aspiring video game designer Katja and her longtime friend Trent are an unstoppable team against animated monsters in the virtual underworlds of SpearLight, an online role-playing game. But after a humiliating falling-out, Trent marshals an army of internet trolls to wage real-life war against her. Comic and poignant, Non–Player Character is a timely, boldly theatrical exploration of the games we play and who’s winning.
WALT MCGOUGH is a Boston-based playwright (by way of Pittsburgh and Chicago). In Boston, he has held fellowships with both the Huntington and New Repertory Theatre Companies, and was a finalist for the 2016 Dramatists Guild Lanford Wilson Award. His plays include PATTERN OF LIFE, which was named Best New Play by the Independent Reviewers of New England, and THE FARM, PRISCILLA DREAMS THE ANSWER, and PAPER CITY PHOENIX, all of which received Best New Play IRNE nominations. Other plays include CHALK, DANTE DIES!! (AND THEN THINGS GET WEIRD), THE HABERDASHER!, and NON–PLAYER CHARACTER, which was part of the 2016 Bay Area Playwrights Festival. He has worked around the country with companies such as The Lark, the Huntington, the Playwrights Foundation, New Rep, NNPN, Boston Playwrights Theatre, Fresh Ink, Sideshow, Nu Sass Productions, and Chicago Dramatists. In 2015, his play ADVICE FOR ASTRONAUTS was selected as the winner of the Milken Playwriting Prize. He serves on the staff at SpeakEasy Stage Company in Boston, and was previously the company manager at Chicago Dramatists. He holds a BA from the University of Virginia, and an MFA in playwriting from Boston University, and cohosts the pop-culture comedy podcast “Crossover Appeal.” For more information, visit www.waltmcgough.com
Experiments Play Reading Series
For the 23rd season of La MaMa Experiments we will focus on theatrical works in progress addressing mental health issues. No one is more familiar with the need to create greater access to mental healthcare than our New York audience, who come face to face with this crisis on a daily basis. After 3 years of a global pandemic, all of us are feeling the upsurge of anxiety and depression, but these trends have been on the rise long before Covid-19. The works this season shed light on important, personal stories and deal with this subject matter in many different and unique ways. From tongue in cheek comedies to absurdist tragedies, Experiments hopes to create a season that will destigmaify, enlighten and, yes, even entertain.