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Student performance group NOMADS is presenting username, a production that centers around online gaming communities. username will be performed on October 20, 21, and 22 in the Glicker-Milstein theatre.

NOMADS performs works that are entirely student-generated. From the script, to the direction, to the sound design, this production was entirely created by your peers! In “username,” the audience glimpses into the life of someone who depends on online gaming communities for support while he struggles with relationships in his own life. Joey Santia has written a fantastic script, and director Leo Angulo has worked with the talented cast to bring each character to life. As millennials, this production is an important piece to see, as it poses difficult questions about the quality of our interactions. Toby, the main character, is a closeted teen in love with his best friend, who discovers gaming and becomes entranced with the life and characters he finds on the internet. Matt Taub captures Toby’s desires and insecurities perfectly and, from his stance to his facial ticks, fully inhabits the role.

The audience sees Toby’s interactions via avatars, also played by students. The idea to use avatars almost as real characters was brilliant for two reasons: First, the avatars produce important comedic moments. As the audience was comprised largely of students, these moments were recognizable in our own lives, making their presentation in the play especially laughable. Have you ever read a text conversation out loud? All the things you usually type that seem enormously cool in writing become awkward and hilarious. The second use of the avatars as people was in the way that the virtual reality became validated as a community in the eyes of the audience. The universe Toby falls into is seductive and dangerous. He, as avatar Sosanna, reveals more of himself to online profiles than he does to anyone he actually knows. That simultaneous anonymity and dependence is incredibly alluring for Toby, and thus for the audience. Around the middle of the play, the avatars’ scenes start becoming more realistic and have more depth than any interactions going on with their users.

However, the illusion comes to a crashing halt with a plot twist, and the online community is forced to deal with the same betrayals, questions, and distresses that plague their users. This play is incredibly important because it depicts a situation that is happening more and more frequently. It also forces the audience to confront the ways in which they, too, can be sucked into an online facade in the same manner as they might be drawn to an addictive, but damaging relationship.

James Kolsby, (Sound/Projections Designer), Gabo (Lighting Designer), Zoe Ross (Set Designer), Yasmina Milord (Props Designer), and Nina Lam (Costume Designer), all deserve enormous props for their work on the sound effects and multicolored lighting that together transformed the stage into a pseudo-computer screen, and the actors into characters. Other cast members did double-duty, playing both characters in our users’ lives, as well as popular YouTube videos come-to-life. Rickie, played by Tim Kiley, and Sosanna, played by Anna Stoneman, were so convincing in their roles as an avatar couple that they became the audience’s #goals, despite knowing the insidious nature of their users. Finally, Francisco Alvridrez played Darren, a character he fleshed out and made sympathetic despite Darren’s indiscretions.

The production papers the walk into the theater with trigger warning posters, and goes into specifics or available resources for those concerned. As great as this production is, it often depicts graphic scenes of uncomfortable issues, so take these warnings very seriously. Overall, we truly loved the performance and think it offered an important critique of life in our modern era. We applaud NOMADs on the accomplishment and can’t wait to see what more they have in store. Tickets for username are just $5 with a CUID, and NOMADS has at least two more productions coming out soon!

Cool gamer boots courtesy of CU NOMADS