Virtual theatre has grown over the past decade, with groups likeFinal Fantasy 14’s A Stage Reborn andFallout 76’s Wasteland Theatre Company. The latter has reached amazing heights–among other things, they’ve been featured in a prestigious academic journal from Johns Hopkins.
Jonathan Thomas, known inFallout 76as Bramadew, is the acting artistic director for Wasteland Theatre, and he shared the exciting news with Game Rant in a recent interview. Though this may be the company’s highest accolade, Thomas pointed out it’s not the only one they’ve received.
All of Fallout 76’s Wastes are a Stage
The idea of performing Shakespeare inFalloutisn’t as strange as it sounds. Not only do virtual theatre companies exist in other MMOs, but Wasteland Theatre is firmly rooted within the lore and tone ofFalloutitself. Thomas pointed out that everyFalloutgame has in some way incorporated the works of the Bard. Look no further thanFallout 4companion Strongfor proof: Strong’s goal is to find the “milk of human kindness” fromMacbethafter spending time with a Shakespearean radio actor.
Even so, virtual theatre is still in its infancy. Groups likeWasteland Theatreare trailblazers bringing some of the greatest plays in history to audiences that might not have experienced them in more traditional venues. The way this pushes the art forward is what caught the attention of Johns Hopkins, explained Thomas.
“It mostly talked about how we were just advancing the art of theatre—we’re one of the only online theatre companies that’s ever done Shakespeare in a virtual environment. The article itself just focused on how we were just adding to the long-storied history of putting on these plays.”
He explained that one central point the article from Johns Hopkins brought up is the way games are made to be broken. Most games are pushed to or past their limits by their players, be that speedrunners discovering glitches to beat games in record time orrole-players taking games in ways they were never intended. In the case of Wasteland Theatre, it takes a post-apocalyptic survival RPG shooter and turns it into a medium for performance art.
Thomas described what his company does as smashing together a wasteland survival game and classical theatre to create a new form of art. Groups like his or A Stage Reborn radically redefine how Shakespeare can be performed, and who those plays can reach. Wasteland Theatre doubles down on this by adapting its scripts to includeFalloutlore references and pop culture nods to reach audiences something likeRichard IIImight not typically resonate with. Thomas gave an example of one such reference inRichard the Ghoul, their recentRichard IIIadaptation:
“We attempt to include manyFalloutreferences and change things to make it fit inside the lore and universe of the world, but we’ll also pull from other pop culture things that try to bridge the gap for people that have not watched a Shakespeare play before or seen a live theatre performance at all.
If you may add those pop culture references that they are familiar with, it just makes it all seem a little bit more familiar and makes them maybe more accepting of the medium in general.”
How Virtual Theatre Continues to Innovate within Fallout 76
Wasteland Theatre’s journey with Johns Hopkins isn’t over. The journal that highlighted them initially is working on a review ofRichard the Ghoul, Thomas said. The company has already been contacted by the reviewer. Rather, Johns Hopkins is hardly the first publication or academic to recognize the role Wasteland Theatre has played in helping blaze the trail for thenewest medium of performing arts.
Thomas estimates that Wasteland Theatre has been written about in no fewer than five languages, including a lecture by an Italian professor at a European Shakespeare summit. They’ve also been recognized by the gaming side of things. Most notably, Bethesda themselves have worked with the company to help put on performances.
“Bethesda has helped our set designer, Thor, by giving her some extra atoms to get this thing that she needs for her idea, her vision.”
[…]
“We’ve talked about things that we could possibly improve our productions and they are super helpful with Thor. I think they’ve even increased her build budget. She can build more than anybody else on a PlayStation. They’ve shown us a lot of support, and we’re super grateful for it.”
Primarily, what he’d like to see isn’t any one specific CAMP item—thoughthe Hollywood scoreboardwas a windfall for them—but rather a greater variety of costumes. Costuming is one of the struggles the team has had, and in particular the lack of good robot-themed costumes in the game has prevented them from putting on a play they’ve had in mind, he said. He also is always on the lookout for costumes that help represent the various factions in the wasteland. Though there is one CAMP item he’s interested in: a giant functioning curtain for the stage.
Those interested in joining Wasteland Theatre can contact them on X (formerly Twitter) at @76Theatre. That said, Thomas cautions thatdue toFallout 76’s lack of crossplay, most of their work requires the PlayStation version of the game.
