First Person Shooter was written by Aaron Loeb, who spends his days working at Planet Moon Studios (a developer that is no stranger to violent games, with such titles as Armed & Dangerous and Infected under their belt), with the intention of showing the human element to every side associated with such a tragedy. That’s where much of the play’s beauty lies, to be completely honest: Loeb refuses to take a side in the controversy. Or maybe he takes everyone’s side. I’m not sure… both options seem pretty identical, since he shows how all the characters think they’re right and acknowledges where they’re wrong as well.

The play takes place in a number of locales, a feat which is accomplished due to creative use of the abstract set: projection screens on the two back walls display pictures and video to portray the different locations, with loading screens running to show the time changes. It’s a play constructed around a set of light, color, and movement; it’s a technique which works beautifully. On top of this, the small cast slips between different roles smoothly and quickly while never requiring the audience to suspend any disbelief. Part of this is due to their fine acting, but it’s also due to the fact that First Person Shooter’s dialogue never once feels forced or unnatural. While the entire cast is excellent, Chad Deverman and Adrian Roberts stand out for their respective portrayals of Tommy, JetPack Games’ alternately slimy and charismatic guru of spin, and Daniel Jamison, the father of a slain student. Deverman plays Tommy as someone with one of the meanest senses of humor around, with a grin so wicked that you wish you were armed when it turns on you, while Roberts makes Jamison’s grief nothing short of palpable. Ultimately, the characters feel real because they’re all written with three dimensions instead of being left as the caricatures they could have easily become had Loeb decided that one of his factions was completely in the right.

It’s easy to recommend Loeb’s play to just about any theatre-goer because, while it deals with the video game industry, it doesn’t seek to alienate viewers unfamiliar with the world of gaming and it tackles a complex topic while refusing to lay the blame at anyone’s feet. I liked First Person Shooter for a number of reasons: I liked it for its originality, I liked it for its versatility, and I liked it for its depth. But, most importantly, I liked it for the sincerity it contains when addressing a complex subject that will never contain an simple explanation. It’s heart-wrenching, it’s beautiful, and it’s bittersweet… and I hope it’s seen by as many people as possible.

First Person Shooter [SF Playhouse]