In a romantic comedy about video games and intimate vulnerability, the audience watches a story of a college girl balance her love for World of Warcraft and the boy with whom she has fallen in love.
The Pierce College Journeymen, a club for students interested in theatre, are performing a virtual student-run production of “In Love and Warcraft” on Zoom, written by Madhuri Shekar. The show opens on Nov. 13-14, has a 6 p.m. curtain and has an estimated running time of 2 hours with one intermission.
The comedy follows college student and gamer Evie (Janel Javier) who leads a guild on the multi-player online game World of Warcraft. On the side, she writes love letters for clients who are having relationship issues despite having no personal experience in intimacy. That is until she falls in love with Raul (Michael Kendrick), a client seeking her help.
Terrified of being physically intimate, she looks to her sexually active and extroverted best friend Kitty (Eadan Einbinder). Now Evie must decide between her love life or the life she lives virtually.
Director Roya Row spoke about the cast and new Zoom techniques the club has been using.
“The actors we have are so talented that the day of our first read-through they knew the characters so well that it felt like half of the work had already been done,” Row said. “Some of the scenes seemed almost impossible to do online but we’ve gotten to a point where we can show all these interactions.”
Javier said “In Love and Warcraft” focuses on having the courage to be vulnerable.
“There is a message of having faith that you are not going to go through life getting hurt constantly,” Javier said. “That there are people out there who care about you and want the best for you and to let yourself be vulnerable to those people.”
Costume designer Melaney Garcia said this show will open the audience’s eyes, allow them to take a step back from the virtual world and actually engage.
“We are all on our computers and it’s a light-hearted reminder to look at the situation and remind us–once [the pandemic is] all over–to engage outside of technology,” Garcia said.
Einbinder said she’s excited for audiences to see the play that has been virtual from rehearsal to the live performance.
“As an actress, I have never been trained to act over Zoom so it’s a new thing,” Einbinder said. “There’s a bit of a learning curve but everyone’s doing a great job and I’m pumped for people to watch.”
More information on how to watch “In Love and Warcraft” will be posted to the Journeymen’s Instagram and Facebook page as opening night approaches.
