Her or the Game? Or Both?

From the creative minds of playwright Larry Brenner and director Dann Fink comes one of the best new plays to hit the indy stage in New York City in quite some time. With a unique view into the worlds of bro-mance, family and romance, “Saving Throw Versus Love” is a legitimate hit.

Featured in this year’s FringeNYC festival, it’s an extraordinary way to spend the night. It is also an impressive combination of imaginary adventures, humor and the trial and error of human courtship.

The plot line of the play is fairly simple. In the beginning, Carol thinks her fiancée Sam goes to a weekly poker game, but Sam has a terrible secret. He has been avoiding telling Carol the truth, which is that he is a long-term participant in a fantasy reality game called “Caverns and Creatures,” the play’s version of “Dungeons and Dragons.” Before the two officially wed, Sam resolves to tell Carol about his habitual pastime.

Carol, played by Kerry Flanagan, is not in the dark for that much of the night to Sam’s activities. She discovers that Sam doesn’t play Poker, but assumes that he is having an affair, which prompts him to tell her the truth. Sam, portrayed by Rob Marnell, is able to take on the aspects that we all know to be the classic boy next door. He is slightly charming and has his funny moments. He explains to Carol that he plays a variety of characters in the play, including a female character.

As for Sam’s best friends, they are the ones who try to get him to tell Carol and offer to play a game of “Caverns and Creatures” with her in an effort to introduce their points of view on it. Sam’s friends, Gary (Matt Hammond), Kenny (Dan McCabe) and Mark (Michael “Tuba” McKinsey) really steal the show. It was apparent that the play was more than just a game to them. The three of them live vicariously through their characters to the point when one of them kills off Carol’s player to save his own. With assistance from his fellow gamers and friends, Sam helps Carol through the game and she is actually a quick study. She is a natural at it and is able to salvage her character after her betrayal at the hands of Sam’s friend.

The cast of characters is rounded out with the appearances of Joe Aiello and Klea Blackhurst, who play the roles of Bill and Phyllis, Carol’s parents, who add a nice amount of depth to an already talented cast.

In the end, though the title and the story line left little to the imagination, it is a welcomed surprise to actually see the performance. The characters and the characters within the characters are amazing and well-written by Brenner. Hopefully, the play will be revisited soon for more New Yorkers to enjoy it.