Audacious Immersive’s new production is a cosplayer’s dream.

From its original Drunk Christmas shows to increasingly sophisticated pieces like last year’s Frankenstein, Audacious Immersive has reached its peak with this summer’s Traitors at Badler’s Door-A Woodlands & Wyverns Adventure created by Elizabeth Porter.

This one’s a full-on nerd alert, seemingly aimed at the D&D set but perfectly accessible to the average person. Staged in the basement of Denver’s First Baptist Church, the AA-meeting vibe of the room has been dressed up to look a bit more Tolkienesque, with particular attention paid to the table dressing, artfully done by Leslie Custer. (Our table had a bloody meat cleaver, faux potatoes, electric candles and peculiar fake foliage of some sort.)

At check-in, you’re assigned a group such as barbarians, wizards, sorcerers and the like. Each group has its own assigned cast member, who acts as an intermediary between the action on and around the stage and the audience members. You can be a simple observer (my path) or more involved by jumping in to roll the dice, manage a chalkboard to hold up to the room or being part of the decision-making process that enables the “choose your own adventure” theme.

And though it drags in places as some of the ad-libbed stuff is worked out, it’s a fun night overall and well received by many in the room who showed up in all kinds of cosplay gear to get in the spirit of things. Director MacBeth Richardson deserves a lot of credit for figuring out how to put it all together and keep it moving, and the energetic cast working out a mystery of sorts took their roles with a winking nod to the silly while driving the plot forward.

The Storyteller, Logan Custer, in ‘Traitors at Badler’s Door.’ | Photo: Alex Miller

The story

The plot, as I understood it, has to do with a kingdom of some sort where traitorous doings are afoot in a world of monsters, wizards, bards and clerics. Logan Custer plays a Storyteller, who reads from a chair on stage to set up the action. Our table’s sponsor, if you will, was an axe-waving Barbarian played by Lauren M. Long. There’s also a Bard (Frankie Virginia), a Cleric (Raleigh Smith), a Wizard (Silas Vazquez), a Sorcerer (Wendy Hisel), a Lover (Porter) and even a few NPCs.

Costumes by Sarah Blinkhorn are particularly well done given what I assume was a modest budget. The overall vibe of the evening was that of an elaborate game, something akin to a murder mystery but with more unusual characters. There’s even a bar serving up themed, non-alcoholic drinks, to add to the festive atmosphere.

I’ll admit my interest in the specifics of the game-play portion of the production were limited, and I didn’t always understand what was going on. But plenty of my tablemates did, and the back-and-forth established a bit of esprit de corps that moved Badler’s Door well into the realm of immersive event.

If you’re a cosplay kinda nerd or are OK hanging out with them, this is a fun way to spend an evening at an alternative theatre.

The Monster | Photo: Alex Miller