Narragansett Valkyrie: War of All Against All

In a world premiere, Contemporary Theatre playwright-in-residence Andy Hoover imagines a virtual reality combat game, “Triad,” played by teams of three seated at their respective computers, the objective of which is to confront and defeat various incarnations of “leviathans,” computerized monsters with almost unlimited variations of forms and capabilities. Fairly accurately modeling air combat, each team consists of a “Balance Point” (pilot-in-command), “Striking Point” (bombardier) and “Tactics Point” (navigator) who must co-operate under stress in order to pursue and defeat their computerized opponent while using their skills and resources to defend against attack. As with a real air combat crew, success in the game depends upon how well each player understands their own role and is able to synchronize with their comrades.

The stage play is only incidentally about the game, instead focusing on the divergent personalities necessary to compose an effective team, especially what each is willing to emphasize and what each is willing to sacrifice. Just as a pilot-in-command values caution, a bombardier values risk: Someone who is good at one role is unlikely to be good at the other. Likewise, both a pilot-in-command and a bombardier prize quick action, while a navigator prizes methodical preparation.

In Narragansett, Rhode Island, a group of high school friends played the game regularly, “Bex” (Maggie Papa) as Striking Point, “Terra” (Christine Cauchon) as Tactics Point, and “Joyce” (Ashley Macamaux) as Balance Point. When Terra went off to college at MIT, her position on the team was taken over by “Marcus” (Riley Cash). By chance, Bex spots Terra in Providence waiting for a bus back to Narragansett, having taken a break from college, and offers her a ride.

The creator of the game, the eccentric billionaire “William Rost” (Brendan Kelley), has long insisted the contest should be strictly teams against leviathans, and accordingly has sued everyone who attempted to stage a competition between teams. Surprisingly, he announces the first-ever such competition to be sponsored by himself, inviting all interested teams to qualify by defeating a series of leviathans at a specified level of difficulty, eventually weeding out the competitors to only 256 teams worldwide.

Terra, a far more gifted Tactics Point than Marcus, quickly resumes her old place on the team with Bex and Joyce, and the three girls decide to enter the competition. Being all-female, they choose to name their team “Narragansett Valkyrie,” knowing that valkyries are female in mythology but not too sure about any of their other rather undesirable characteristics. It turns out that they are the only all-female team in a male-dominated world of video game play.

Winston Churchill famously wrote, “Nothing in life is so exhilarating as to be shot at without result.” The combative and impulsive Bex thrives on such exhilaration and is willing to do almost anything to win, wearing a T-shirt (custom made by costume designer Marissa Dufault) that reads “My Striking Point Is Your Face.” At the other extreme is the psychologically fragile Terra who is never quite sure what she has gotten herself into. In the middle is even-tempered Joyce, more interested in preserving friendships than winning the competition.

As the tournament progresses through regionals in Boston and then nationals in Santa Fe – the team does pretty well, but that’s hardly a spoiler – the longstanding friendship between Bex, Terra and Joyce is threatened by outsiders, celebrity Balance Point “Valentine Decker” (Rebecca Magnotta) and outstandingly gifted Tactics Point “Davis Stebbins” (Charlie Santos). In the background is MIT student and video game blogger “Pete Chaykin” (Stephen Strenio), who has been taken into the confidence of the reclusive Rost, a man who combines the oddities of Howard Hughes and the reality distortion field of Steve Jobs.

Maggie Papa is hilarious as “Bex” who approaches video game play with Machiavellian cynicism and ferocity. Brendan Kelley portrays “Rost” with surprising sympathy considering that we suspect the character might spend much of his time obsessively watching Ice Station Zebra. Christine Cauchon is remarkably convincing in a challenging role as a fictional character so simultaneously intellectually brilliant and mentally unstable that she eerily reminded me of more than one non-fictional past romantic relationship. More Bechdel test than Gamergate, Hoover’s very entertaining play hints that an all-female combat team has fundamentally different dynamics than an all-male combat team, an interesting and novel idea that is largely unexplored elsewhere.

Set designer Chris Simpson (who is also the artistic director at Contemporary Theatre) and lighting designer Maggie Cady do a nice job of bringing the audience into and out of the virtual world of the game, reminiscent of any one of the dozens of World War II air combat films with scenes set inside something like a B-17 Flying Fortress. Indeed, the internecine personality clashes that develop are not entirely dissimilar to the classic Twelve O’Clock High, among the best and most memorable of the genre. As events move at a rapid pace, in the end the play, despite depression and betrayal, is about attempting to draw strength from family and other relationships to confront fears and psychological demons – which, as in real life, sometimes succeeds and sometimes fails.

Narragansett Valkyrie (world premiere), directed by Sami Avigdor, Contemporary Theater Company, 327 Main St, Wakefield. Thu (5/12) (pay what you can), Fri (5/6, 5/13), Sat (5/7, 5/14) 7pm; Sun (5/8) 2pm. About 2h30m including 15-minute intermission. Refreshments available including beer and wine. Handicap accessible. Box office: 401-218-0282. Web site: https://app.arts-people.com/index.php?ticketing=tctc Tickets: https://app.arts-people.com/index.php?actions=4&p=1