Rob Maass plays Will Davies, a young man unsure ofwhat to do with his life. He doesn’t have a purpose outside of the arcade. AnneGraff LaDisa, part of the Milwaukeecomedy troupe Broadminded, plays Davies’ love interest, Becky Walsh.Unfortunately for Walsh, she’s the only one interested in love. Davies isdistracted by a bigger dreamto get the highest score ever on “Donkey Kong.”Milwaukee Comedy Festival founder Matt Kemple plays Jesse Stackhouse, a new kidin town who turns out to be pretty good at “Donkey Kong” himself. The rest ofthe characters read like a list from a typical 1980s teen exploitation movie.
The novelty of seeing a 1980s-style big-screencomedy performed live onstage with local actors in all of the roles isn’t theonly reason this show sounds like fun. The tiny stage of the Alchemist Theatre will also featurelive-action re-creations of vintage video games.
“The task of bringing the games to stage is a bigundertaking,” Figueroa says. “We're all getting a crash course in puppetry.”
Jeremy Lowther, art director for 8-Bit Warrior, designed all of the gamepieces. Original music and sound effects from classic coin-operated arcadegames will mix with the live action.
“In a way, the process is like choreographing amusical number,” Figueroa says. “Instead of dancers, I have someone moving Mrs.Pac-Man around onstage.”
Other games getting the stage treatment includeclassics like “Pong” and “Space Invaders,” as well as some that became morepopular on home video game platforms, like “Tetris” and “Duck Hunt.”
8-Bit Warriorruns March 25–April 11 at the Alchemist Theatre in Bay View.
