Critical Role wants to host even more live shows, especially outside of the US
Critical Role is no stranger to live performances — at gaming conventions, livestreamed in movie theaters, or most recently at London’s Wembley Arena. In fact, the actual play troupe that cut its teeth on Dungeons & Dragons (before building its own systems) has a live show coming up on June 15 in Los Angeles. And it’s at the historic Greek Theatre, no less! But CEO Travis Willingham sees an opportunity to bring his performers’ special brand of magic to even more loving audiences — especially outside of the United States.
“Where else could we go?” Willingham wondered out loud in a recent interview with Polygon.
Ticket sales clearly point to an unmet need for live-action actual play performances among the genre’s most devoted fans. Critical Role’s London show easily drew more than 12,500 attendees. More recently, Dropout’s Dimension 20 sold out Madison Square Garden, with a 19,500-seat capacity, in a matter of days. Live performance is back in a big way since the COVID-19 pandemic, and actual play needs to get on board — and start thinking even bigger.
“Especially after [Wembley and Dimension 20’s success selling out MSG], we have got to get out of the U.S. a little bit,” Willingham said. “We have to make sure we’re taking care of the rest of the U.S. [besides Los Angeles and the tabletop convention circuit], but can we go to Australia? Can we go to other targets in the EU? Can we go to South America? South America has been amazing in terms of our audience demographic, and we feel like it’s underserved.
“It’s a logistical challenge to figure all those things out,” Willingham continued. “There’s really no playbook for these things. But no playbook [has] kind of [been] our MO for the last five or six years since we went independent. So we take a shot at it, we try and figure it out along the way, and we just kind of act on where we think people are wanting or indicating to us that they want to see us.”
The challenges of a live show are many, but they’re also a chance
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