The Anarchy 1138-53, presented in KXT on Broadway, is like walking into a narrated RPG walkthrough that spans levels of anarchy, death and destruction!
The stage is a mirrored walkway where the mirror is at once a reflection in water as you travel through the oceans on an imaginary boat before becoming the beach where you are shipwrecked, as enemies swoop in, dragons fly and various characters aim to destroy you.
The imaginary RPG campaign you find yourself in is set in Britain, or another dystopia where anarchy prevails and suffering is a plenty – this is the ‘Crossworlds Universe’, narrated by two hyper-verbal guides whose stamina is as relentless as their script.



While in regular theatre productions the actors play out the scenes, in this play it is mostly just narrated, with moments of re-enactment and audience interaction being a much needed respite from the tyranny of the spoken words that flow out of both actors at astronomical speed.
As the story progresses you from the ‘tutorial’ and through the myriad of ‘levels’, it becomes one level too many, and this 135 minute no interval play, begins to resemble a notoriously long boss fight—technically impressive but emotionally numbing.
Though the dark, punk world the play creates is intriguing and the production is inventive and daring, the overall experience is somewhat languished and the script feels a little too self indulgent.
Sometimes some levels are best left sans walkthrough, for the gamer to navigate, even if that means dying and respawning a few times.
To book tickets to The Anarchy 1138-53, please visit https://events.humanitix.com/the-anarchy-1138-53.
Photographer: Skye Gellman