How it all BEGAN
I was 15 years old, and it was a Friday evening. My buddies Mark Downie, Aaron Hendry, and I were hanging out when Mark asked if I was interested in playing some Dungeons and Dragons.
I was already curious about gaming, so it didn’t take much convincing. We mustered in Aaron’s room, rolled up characters, and began to use our imaginations cooperatively. I played a Dwarven ranger with a hand-crossbow and a whip. I was hooked after a very short time, even though I do not recall the story Aaron arranged for us.
The feeling was intoxicating. I was a fantasy superhero. After that night, I wanted to game as often as my friends would tolerate. All I wanted was to roll the dice and survive the conflicts established by my Dungeon Master friends. I was a strict player for fifteen years, staying well away from the responsibilities of being a Dungeon Master.
I became the Dungeon Master out of necessity in my early 30’s. The second wave of intoxication hit me as I began to create worlds, societies, and cultures. It wasn’t until this time that I truly realized how powerful a tool D&D could be to flex my creative muscles. My creativity went through the roof, from telling stories to improvising situations of death and survival. This new habit of “DMing” helped me gain the confidence to write more stories and take more creative risks in my professional life.
After 34 years of gaming and leading others through the wonderful world of Dungeons and Dragons, I was waiting for the third wave of intoxication. As I drove across the country, back to Savannah from California in the summer of 2018, a conversation with my Mother started. She asked me, “What are your favorite things to do?” I responded that my two favorite things to do were Theater and D&D. With an obvious voice, she said, “Well, why don’t you put them together?” She was correct; why don’t I put them together? Fusing Theater and D&D rolled in my mind as I saw a show begin to play out in my head. My Mom loves to suggest many things, and usually, I do not pay them much attention due to the frequency of her suggestions. But this time, she nailed it!
She was right: why shouldn’t I smash the two together and create something no one has seen before? I began to shake. My hat was tilted back as I rubbed my head at the sheer genius of what my Mother said. “Fuck!! I have to write this down”, I yelled, but I couldn’t. I was driving at 74 mph, somewhere in middle Texas. Thankfully, my Mother could read and write while riding in a car. She wrote down my first thoughts and ideas about the show. She was the Dr. Gonzo to my Raoul Duke.
After many rehearsals and trials runs of the first show in a cycle of nine, Vengeance and Veritas, made its official premier at Mercer University in Macon, GA. The show had a full run of eight performances with many inspirational moments and discoveries. After filling sold out houses across the country, Adventure Theater is looking for the next location or venue.
