Dungeons & Dragons (D&D) continues to grow in popularity following its 50th anniversary in 2024. D&D is experienced on-screen with the D&D movie, through video game “Baldur’s Gate 3,” and Critical Role’s animated series “Legend of Vox Machina.” “Dimension 20’s” sold out Madison Square Garden show and “Twenty-Sided Tavern” also bring it to live theater. The off-Broadway D&D show has been running since May of 2024 and doesn’t seem to be slowing down.
“Twenty-Sided Tavern” began incorporating guest players with Felicia Day in September of 2024. Other guest stars include “Dimension 20” cast members Erika Ishii, Aabria Iyengar, and Ify Nwadiwe. Recently, “Baldur’s Gate 3” star Neil Newbon made his debut. While Dungeons & Dragons has been around for 50 years, its popularity has skyrocketed through projects like “Stranger Things,” “Critical Role,” and “Dimension 20.” “Twenty-Sided Tavern” is one of the most intriguing examples, bringing D&D to theater lovers in a perfect amalgamation of the two.
During Newbon’s run as a guest player, Ishii and Iyengar returned to the stage, joining him for one night only. The show consisted of all guest stars filling the roles of players. In an exclusive interview with Temple of Geek, Iyengar, Ishii, and Newbon discussed the show. While performing is nothing new to these players, Ishii and Newbon broke down why this stands out from their other experiences both in and out of the D&D space.
Neil Newbon & Erika Ishii Talk Collaborative Storytelling in Twenty-Sided Tavern
Erika Ishii: “The reality check of letting people know that there are a lot of things that go into this. And this especially is a very interesting beast. It’s not just acting at all.”
Neil Newbon: “It’s improv man.”
Erika Ishii: “Storytelling in actively understanding improv and story structure and how to tell stories collaboratively.”
Neil Newbon: “But not just collaboratively [with us]. You have an X factor of 500 people.”
Erika Ishii: “They’re part of it too. We’re collaborating with them as well. And so I think it’s a very specific thing and I feel so lucky that we got to join. The cast here is phenomenal at it. And it’s funny because they’re all from slightly different disciplines than us. I think a lot of them are more musical theater background and it’s so funny to come in as an for us [Ishii and Iyengar) internet, D&D players, and-“
Neil Newbon: “A serious actor. I did Shakespeare! But it is, and that’s actually the thing I like the most about the industry, especially on this side of the industry that we find ourselves, in these spaces that we find ourselves in. Because it isn’t, for a long time, it wasn’t taken very seriously. People didn’t consider it art or performance, which of course it f-cking is. It’s just not what people were traditionally used to and therefore they gave it no merit apart from those of us that knew better.
And I’m going to say that, that’s not an ego thing. I mean [people] literally saw the possibility of where it can go, which is why you have D20. You have a Critical Role, you have games, you have this [Twenty-sided Tavern] spectacle. Because people understood that there’s other things you can do and it’s all performance, all storytelling.”
Storytelling is the key to what makes D&D so special. While the comedy and the camaraderie of playing with friends shine through, very real topics often come into play. This can be shown through personal stories tied to grief or acceptance. However, it also often comes through with questions about religion, trusting authority, capitalism, and more. During Newbon, Ishii, and Iyengar’s performance, the audience steered the trio towards the topic of unions which the performers were quick to lean into and support wholeheartedly.
Great fantasy and science fiction have always been a commentary on the real world. D&D shows are no different. Musical theater falls into a similar category, telling stories meant to examine the world and ideals while bringing a fantastical element to them. Nerd culture has often been overlooked and underappreciated. Although it is seen as a niche, the reality is it has become the mainstream. Fantasy and sci-fi, D&D shows, and video games are often some of the most innovative stories with true depth meant to make the audience examine their understanding of the world.
“Baby It’s The Age Of Geek” Declares Neil Newbon
Erika Ishii: I think the idea of D&D, online D&D, and even voice acting people didn’t necessarily know who you were. David Carpenter even said, I mean no offense, but people in Broadway don’t know who you are. I was like, yeah, I know. Yeah, sure.
Aabria Iyengar: I know three of you. Yeah, it’s fine. It’s mutual.
Erika Ishii: It’s fine. But then you see Madison Square Garden getting sold out, 20,000 people. We saw, was just remarkable.
Neil Newbon: Baby it’s the age of geek.
Aabria Iyengar: We’ve been living in that for a while. And it’s really nice that film led it. Marvel, Star Wars, Star Trek sort of nerd revolution where it was like this is no longer a marginalized group that liked what they liked quietly and to themselves. It became mainstream.
Neil Newbon: I think the games had a massive impact on this as well, because Marvel is a comic book and comic book films have been around. They were never taken seriously. And then you had games. The Last of Us came out and things like independent ones, like That Dragon, Cancer, things like really serious games like proper games.
It’s not a game game, it’s an exploration game through the grief of it. And it was amazing to see that. And this is a while ago now. So I think yes, the Marvel films being championed with that stuff, with games being more interesting, more diverse and starting to tackle things that TV didn’t, and film didn’t.
Erika Ishii: I think also that we forget that Star Wars was massive when it came out. I mean even in the seventies. We always thought of them as subcultures, but they’ve always been popular culture. That’s why it’s called pop culture. I think that it’s even more now that studios have realized it. That we’re starting to see sort of a change in the tenor and in the budgets of what we grew up loving anyway.
The growing respect the industry has for these niche stories and styles of storytelling has opened the door to better media. The superhero genre has become a box office staple in the last two decades. This is something that longtime comic book fans likely never could have imagined.
Video game adaptations have gained respect and critical acclaim. Projects like “The Last of Us” have shown the true depth of these stories. Dungeons & Dragons is selling out stadiums and inspiring animated series that span years. This rise in popularity and respect has also led to new fans finding the medium and genre.
“All Of These Mediums Provide New Ways To Tell Stories”
Aabria Iyengar: Some of us found this a couple of years ago and went, hold on. But that was kind of the point I wanted to drive toward. That idea of the thing that got shaken loose once we realized that good story is not a factor of what the origin material is. It’s about what you put into it. It’s the artistry and the collaboration. And as someone who came to this later in life than most in our field at this level, it’s the realization in the same way that a video game doesn’t have to be just a shoot ’em up. It can be an exploration of grief.
The idea that all of these mediums provide new ways to tell stories. And at the end of the day, the thing we are outside of the jelly in our brains that’s moving around and trying to eat and piss and reproduce is something that wants to tell itself and the world around it, the story of itself. It’s really nice that there are so many ways to tell stories.
It is never lost on me how fun and lucky I am that I get to tell stories in so many different ways. Some of them live on the internet and you can go back and watch them forever or until Dropout.tv gets deleted from the internet, but sometimes they’re just 512 people in a room having a weird moment together that can never be replicated. And we all walk away with that and maybe we don’t remember every single moment, but we remember the way it made us feel. So it’s very nice and it’s very gratifying and [I] feel very lucky.
Dungeons & Dragons is one of the most nuanced and innovative styles of storytelling. The combination of world-building, character development, improvisation, and collaborative storytelling is like nothing else. Critical Role hitting its tenth anniversary, “Dimension 20” selling out Madison Square Garden, and “Twenty-Sided Tavern” approaching a year off-Broadway shows how hungry audiences are for stories.
These performers understand and respect not only the medium, but the audience and the artistry that goes into each performance. “Twenty-Sided Tavern” is the perfect show to bring both long time and new fans to the magic of what D&D can be especially with guests like Iyengar, Newbon, and Ishii.
“Twenty-Sided Tavern” is playing now with Iyengar serving as the first guest Dungeon Master of the show.
