All the world’s a game, and we’re all just players.
At least in Color Arc Productions’ Wanna Play, a madcap mashup that asks, hey, what if you combined the video game ethos of Tron with the magical discovery of Wizard of Oz with just a dash of Lost’s penchant for liminal space and high-stakes introspection? Maybe with a skosh of audience participation through dance- and sing-alongs? With videos and sound effects and nostalgic nods for the arcade lovers out there?
In short, there’s a lot going on here.
It begins in immediate throwback. Retro 8-bit music plays during projections of side-scrolling fight scenes, with requisite trash talk between characters like the giant green Ograth the Ogre and the nimble, ninja-adjacent Damon the Destroyer (both voiced by Marc Pouhé). Soon the purple-hatted capybara Cappy (no relation to Mario’s Odyssey sidekick) appears, challenging them to level-up to “the Here.” The actual players, Gemma (Christine Hoang, who also wrote the script) and Ethan (Travis Owens), are sucked into a mysterious realm where they must work together for freedom. The cryptic Cappy (Michelle Alexander) leads them through challenges, as wide-smiled as the Cheshire Cat and equally as confuzzling.
The layers of each level quickly peel back, introducing audiences to the raw reality behind these players. It’s a fascinating upheaval of the usual video game trope. Games are often seen as mindless escapism; here, they become a means of confrontation. Rather than running away from problems in the embrace of a false world, that imaginary construct becomes a vast board where these players can wrestle with their deepest insecurities.
Wanna Play draws in audiences with arcade aesthetics, only to sucker punch their hearts with emotional healing.
Which they do, tearing down literal walls to connect with their true selves and with each other. Hoang and Owens play off each other perfectly as prickly Gemma and earnest Ethan. At one point they describe each other as a black cat and a golden retriever, and that dynamic sparkles through the show. Director Jamie Rogers’ blocking helps that energy, zipping the characters around the stage like pinballs, working with movement and edges in ways that expand the world past the boundaries of imagination – a perfect way to handle how both games and this particular script push against traditional storytelling tropes. Prop and set designers Liz Tyson and CB Feller keep it bright and simple with blocking cubes and wall hangings, the stage details leading to satisfying easter eggs as the play moves on.
There were a few stumbles: jokes that didn’t always land, audience interactions that worked well in theory but depended a lot on how game the crowd could be. The gradual reveal of each player’s core emotional scars, though eventually the biggest story strength, initially seemed frustratingly uneven. At first the trauma imbalance between the characters rankled, the sheer intensity and awfulness of Gemma’s experiences outweighing Ethan’s tenfold. But the script cleverly calls out that inequity, inviting onlookers to examine their own judgemental gut reactions. How dare I gauge personal hardships as if there is actually a giant trauma scoreboard, as if we’re all competing on a level playing field? Are Ethan’s troubles less valid, less hurtful? Who am I to say one person’s heartache matters more than another? That attitude seesaw turned into another way to ponder preexisting biases, to muse on our attack responses and interpersonal dynamics.
Bright and layered, Wanna Play is a delicious confection, the fanciest dark chocolate coated in pop rocks and served in a neon bubblegum wrapper. It draws in audiences with arcade aesthetics, only to sucker punch their hearts with emotional healing. Join the players for one exploratory and engaging evening.
Color Arc Productions’ Wanna Play
Hyde Park Theatre
Through April 19
This article appears in April 11 • 2025.
