In the land of Continentia, the setting for Dorks in Dungeon’s mash-up of fantasy role-playing games and live improv comedy, there are few jobs more dangerous than delivering the mail. Take a wrong turn while you’re delivering a package and you’re likely to end up at the business end of an ogre’s club or neck-deep in a pack of disgruntled orcs.
“In a fantasy world … you don’t want that job,” says Michael Ficara, one of the performers and “logistics director” for Dorks in Dungeons. “And so the world has tasked criminals with the job. It’s community service — (our characters) deliver mail in a horrible world.”
After a brief summer break, the Dorks return to the Seacoast on Sept. 18 for the first show of their fourth season. They’ve changed venues, moving from the Seacoast Repertory Theatre to 3S Artspace in Portsmouth, switched the night they perform (now on Fridays instead of Sundays), and the fictional world the cast has created has changed as well. The new season, Ficara says, will be bigger and more unpredictable than previous years.
If you’re feeling lost, don’t worry. Continentia is a confusing place. Here’s the deal: each Dorks in Dungeons show brings to life a session of a fantasy role-playing game. Think about playing “Dungeons & Dragons” with your friends — now imagine doing that on stage, while a team of improv comedy actors recreate the in-game action. The characters are all members of the Special Parcel Service, tasked with delivering packages in a dangerous land. Shows happen roughly once a month, and at the start of each performance, Ficara says, the cast asks the audience to suggest a location, a thing to deliver, and some kind of villain who’s trying to stop them.
“We build the first half of the show based on that … and all of the world-building and mythology just kind of piggybacks on top of anything that happens,” Ficara says.
And, since last season, a lot has happened. One of the heroes, Maureen Darkblack (played by Jessica Miller), ended up becoming a villain and now rules over Continentia with a presumably evil, possibly iron, fist. Some characters died, some new characters are waiting in the wings, and, according to Ficara, there are other surprises in store.
“Our show is 100 percent an ensemble show,” Ficara says. “There are no stars, no lead character. Everyone’s working together, everyone’s supporting everyone.”
Like any good fantasy entertainment, the Dorks have developed a dedicated fan base during the last few years.
“We have people who’ve come to every single show and they know the (character) information almost better than we do,” says performer Brian Paul. “At one point, we were corrected on the age of a character — somebody (in the audience) called out to remind us we were off. People out there are paying attention to details perhaps better than we are.”
Along with performances in the Seacoast, the Dorks also bring Continentia across North America, playing at conventions here in New Hampshire (they’ll be at the Granite State Comicon on Sept. 12) and as far off as Halifax, Nova Scotia. It turns out they’re huge in Canada — in October, they’ll perform at Hal-Con, a massive sci-fi and gaming convention, for the third time.
“We just keep going and our numbers keep going up. That’s one of our favorite cons to go to, because the people are just so good,” Ficara says.
If, for some reason, this is all still confusing — if you don’t know what an orc is, where Canada is, or what happens in “Dungeons & Dragons” — don’t worry. According to Paul, novice audience members catch on quickly. The fantasy tropes are a “dressing on top of a good story” featuring weird-but-relatable characters, he says.
“Do you know what a dragon is? And do you know that a wizard is somebody who does magic and has a wand? And do you know what a king in a castle is? Then you understand the trappings,” he says.
Dorks in Dungeons perform Friday, Sept. 18 at 8 p.m. at 3S Artspace, 319 Vaughan St., Portsmouth. Tickets are $12 or pay-what-you-can at the door, available at 3sarts.org.