Unresolved Rage Game, a TTRPG playtest and workshop
WORKSHOP
Risa Puno and Ran Xia
(she/they, she/her)WED, JAN 3 | 1:30 PM - 4:30 PM (MST): Workshop Session
FRI, JAN 5 | 9:00 AM - 12:00 PM (MST): Workshop Session
SUN, JAN 7 | 1:30 PM - 4:30 PM (MST): Full Playthrough
Large Flex 1 (MIX 358)
Inspired by tabletop role-playing games (TTRPGs), Unresolved Rage Game is an interactive, collaborative storytelling adventure about Asian femme rage, where players take on the roles of fictional Asian femme characters, and navigate challenges rooted in real-life instances of racist and/or sexist microaggressions within the magic circle of a game.
Through this raw, cringeworthy, yet surprisingly fun experience, the players roleplay how rage can be difficult to access and express as Asian femme characters. By turning our real life experiences into game mechanics, we hope to create a shared language through which to understand the privilege of rage, in order to help alleviate some of the emotional labor required by fellow Asian femmes to advocate for themselves with people of the dominant group.
WORKSHOP SESSIONS
WED, JAN 3 | 1:30 PM - 4:30 PM (MST)
FRI, JAN 5 | 9:00 AM - 12:00 PM (MST)
Large Flex 1 (MIX 358)
Stop by and see what we’re up to as we test and workshop the new version of our project designed to be played by non-Asian and/or non-femme players. (**See note about this in the “From the Artists” section below.) We’ll be trying out our new scenarios and framing, as well as some new mechanics for how to incorporate audience participation. Depending on when you come in and how long you stay, you could be invited for some light participation, or even join in some feedback.
[If you are interested in participating as one of the 4 players, you must be willing to commit to the full 3 hr time block and to being observed by people as they drop in. If you’re game, please email contact@risapuno.com.]
WED, JAN 3 | 1:30 PM - 4:30 PM (MST)
FRI, JAN 5 | 9:00 AM - 12:00 PM (MST)
Large Flex 1 (MIX 358)
Stop by and see what we’re up to as we test and workshop the new version of our project designed to be played by non-Asian and/or non-femme players. (**See note about this in the “From the Artists” section below.) We’ll be trying out our new scenarios and framing, as well as some new mechanics for how to incorporate audience participation. Depending on when you come in and how long you stay, you could be invited for some light participation, or even join in some feedback.
[If you are interested in participating as one of the 4 players, you must be willing to commit to the full 3 hr time block and to being observed by people as they drop in. If you’re game, please email contact@risapuno.com.]
SUMMIT SESSION: Full Playthrough with Audience
SUN, JAN 7 | 1:30 PM - 4:30 PM (MST)
Large Flex 1 (MIX 358)
Come be part of the first ever full playthrough of the new version of our game, designed for a wider audience. As an audience member, you will be cast as a member of the Dominant Group with light participation.
When someone does something racist and/or sexist at their work holiday party, will our players be willing to Cringe Coddle in order to Fawn more effectively? Will they Freeze to preserve their energy, even if it means losing Confidence in themselves? Or will they Validate their Rage and assert themselves, knowing that they risk losing Acceptance with the dominant group? Their choices change how the story unfolds.
[If you are interested in participating as one of the 4 players, you must be willing to commit to the full 3 hr time block and to playing in front of the audience. If you’re game, please email contact@risapuno.com.]
SUN, JAN 7 | 1:30 PM - 4:30 PM (MST)
Large Flex 1 (MIX 358)
Come be part of the first ever full playthrough of the new version of our game, designed for a wider audience. As an audience member, you will be cast as a member of the Dominant Group with light participation.
When someone does something racist and/or sexist at their work holiday party, will our players be willing to Cringe Coddle in order to Fawn more effectively? Will they Freeze to preserve their energy, even if it means losing Confidence in themselves? Or will they Validate their Rage and assert themselves, knowing that they risk losing Acceptance with the dominant group? Their choices change how the story unfolds.
[If you are interested in participating as one of the 4 players, you must be willing to commit to the full 3 hr time block and to playing in front of the audience. If you’re game, please email contact@risapuno.com.]
From the Artists
Risa Puno and Ran Xia
Interactive Installation Artist / Interdisciplinary Theatre ArtistRisa Puno and Ran Xia
We teamed up to create this project as part of our SohoRep Writer/Director Lab. We had both come to love playing D&D during the pandemic because of the collective storytelling part of it, but we weren’t into the whole kill-everyone-and-take-all-their-loot part of it. We bonded over the similarities in the way we both had trouble accessing and expressing rage, despite the differences in our upbringings and cultural backgrounds (Filipinx-American raised in Kentucky and Chinese raised in Shanghai). We decided that we wanted to tell our stories through the format of TTRPGs, but instead of fighting medieval monsters, our players would face modern microaggressions.
** Our primary goal was, and continues to be, to develop ways for other Asian femmes to be able to access and unpack their relationships with rage. During our SohoRep Writer/Director Lab workshop, we wrote game mechanics and produced a theatrical experience with lighting design and actors playing NPCs that was designed to be played only by Asian femmes in private, without an audience. Getting to share that intimate and vulnerable experience with people who share a similar social identity was an incredible gift. But we also realized that we wanted to find a way to share it with a wider (and Whiter) audience without compromising or exploiting our Asian femme players. So we decided to design a second version of our project: a public one where people who are non-Asian and/or non-femmes have the opportunity to play the game in front of a live audience. Our hope is that a fully produced version of this experience will subsidize the private experience for the Asian femmes who are interested in that. Our goal at Worlds in Play is to start playtesting our new version designed for this wider audience.
CREDITS
Early development supported by Soho Repertory Theater
Special Thanks: Mieko Gavia, Rachel Lin, Sagan Chen, Macy Lanceta, Esther Ko, Yang Yu, Diana Li, Shuai Chen, Maythinee Washington, Regina (Mama) Puno, Keefe, Elliot Peterson, Che'Li, Maryam Sophia Jahanbin, Helen Li, Jenny Dorsey, Alex Lee, Erica Ito, Christine Jeong, Nana Dakin, Nkenna Akunna, Carolina Đỗ, Annie Jin Wang, Sam Morreale, William Burke, Jackie Sibblies Drury