Fallout 76 role players have created their own theater company

Fallout 76 it’s an action-packed game at times, with adventurers battling waves of cryptids and mutants in the post-apocalyptic wasteland of the Appalachians. Despite all the guns and blood, the most fascinating part of the world remains what players do for entertainment. For example, you can log in and try out some in-game challenges to get new weapons and rewards … or you can go see a delightful play, carefully rehearsed and put on by a dedicated group of players who play a theater company. .

The Theater Company is Fall 76The most practiced theater company. They stage scenes from A Clockwork Orange, Village, West Side Storyand the Indiana Jones trilogy, in a sleek take on a full-length theme in which fans create their own in-game movies and creative works. The company’s current long-term plan is to work with role-play group New Responders (they’ve held multiple events, including a red carpet) to host a shortened production of Macbeth.

“Our mission is to bring art and culture back to Appalachia by rebuilding theaters across the region and putting on famous (and obscure) performances on our stages,” Northern_Harvester, one of The Theater Company’s actors, said in an interview with Polygon.

If you want to attend a play in the game, all you have to do is show up at the corresponding CAMP. The company is not yet performing in Fallout Worlds, so its performances are usually open to the public. Lines are broadcast via proximity chat while characters act out scenes in real time.

The Theater Company was formed after players noticed that there were mannequins placed, some of them posed in small scenes, around the Fallout 76 Map. As Northern_Harvester puts it, it’s “as if people turn to them to try to revive some form of humanity and human interaction.” Players wanted to recreate that kind of artistic experience through the theater company, and their early stages were built around these mannequins to fill simple roles. These mannequins are still to be found today, even in the most recent and elaborate productions.

Northern_Harvester was also inspired by a player named Leemus from the UK who built a movie theater in Fallout 76. Leemus now serves as the company’s engineering advisor, while Northern_Harvester draws inspiration from the game combined with his experience studying English literature at university. He met with other players to purchase costumes from the Atomic Shop, and advised on set design and production details. Thanks to this experience, the company is well prepared. For example, all the cast members are armed in case a scorching beast or a mutated giant sloth approaches to try and disrupt the show.

To build sets, the company reused Fallout 76CAMP tools, which are designed for farms, makeshift shops or bases of operations. The Theater Company uses its CAMPs to make sets that mimic historic theaters. The Watoga Opera is currently showing the work of Gioachino Rossini Hairdresser of Seville, while the Grafton Globe is modeled after the London Globe and features Shakespeare.

Nothing about this commitment to ancient arts and entertainment is unusual for the franchise. On Fallout new vegas, the player meets a group of people who adore and emulate Elvis, the King of Rock. There are also characters who ponder Roman literature, read old pulp comics, and dress in pre-war fashion. A theater company makes a lot of sense on this stage, and it also connects some of the most interesting parts of Fallout 76shelf life so far.

Image: Bethesda Game Studios / Bethesda Softworks via Five-0

It also fits in well with the broader arts and culture scene in Fallout 76. Veteran RPGs like New Responders even host movie premieres in the game to celebrate their achievements and stories. Everyone dresses up and crowds into an in-game theater to enjoy the show. It is a true red carpet event, which really enlivens the experience of foraging for food to survive after a nuclear war.

Some gamers are a bit skeptical of the concept of a theater company: In post-apocalyptic Appalachians, wouldn’t people be too busy boiling water and building basic shelters? “Fallout 76 it doesn’t take place too far from war, “says Northern_Harvester. “It is not very difficult to imagine that the survivors would go through the garbage to rebuild what they had, including the arts. In fact, theater and the arts persist during and after wars and atrocities. We feel like [our plays] they are historically appropriate and add to postwar Appalachian humanity. “

Northern_Harvester doesn’t hold back from these criticisms, and enjoys discussing art during the apocalypse with his peers. Fallout 76 players. “In our own way, our Theater Company has contributed to people’s thinking, not just about the game, but about humanity.”