The husband and one of my best friends play DnD, and have pulled me into it. I mostly get it... kinda. I am learning. I mostly play because I enjoy the company and the wine. The Friend is a true wine lover. He brings amazing wines, way better than the stuff I stock my (now empty) cellar with. He and I can put away two bottles over the course of an evening. And so we roll dice and play DnD, and I sit there smiling with my buzz as we slay the Undead.
Yeah, that is how they piqued my interest. I mostly thought DnD was for crazy nerd guys. Friend corrected me in that... or rather, he confirmed that it is for crazy nerd guys, but chicks play too, and it can be fun. Still, I was resistant and reluctant to try to decipher all the code (2d8+Int mod.). And so they dangled zombies before my eyes.
I cannot resist zombies, apparently. So, we are playing this crazy campaign in which we are serving the Raven Queen (goddess of death, but not the dead, an important distinction, apparently), and on a mission to eradicate that which defies nature by not remaining dead. I am playing a battle cleric. I heal party members but I also hurt stuff... mostly the undead. I have been dragged kicking and screaming into playing a second character-- a warlock. I am basing her on Hermione from the Harry Potter series, but apparently that is going to wreck havoc on the party. Nerds...
I am a week away from opening the show I have been rehearsing. The entire process has been a reminder about why I don't do community theatre for me. Apparently, one of the actresses had a MAJOR blowup last night at rehearsal. I wish I'd been there. But she made another actress cry, and upset the director, and has set my friend (a third actress) on edge. She also threatened to drop out of the show... the show that goes up in, oh, NINE DAYS.... My friend is convinced that I could take the role if that actress carries out her threat. Sigh. I just wanted to do my job-- walk on and off, deliver my character and lines with precision and attention, and support the show.
I once directed a production of Our Town here. The week before we went up, I told the actress playing the Stage Manager to just use the script, which was part of her props anyway.... She got her knickers in a twist and dropped out of the show. I was the one who came out badly from that-- I was difficult to work with and unreasonable and mean. She did no damage to her reputation whatsoever.
Community theatre kinda sucks.
The through line here, and there is one, is that DnD is better than community theatre, at least at my house. There is more wine and less whining. There is good company and no dysfunctional theatre companies. And all the divas are actual characters, rather than divas PLAYING characters.
I really need to retire from acting. Roll a d6....
