Kitty James and Destiny’s Trail to Oregon

As is the case with many Factory shows, Kitty James and Destiny’s Trail to Oregon was conceived by a couple friends bullshitting over some beers.  Jay and I were celebrating at a company holiday party when a coworker cued up their emulator and projected the original Oregon Trail video game on the wall.  As the whole group played through the game, we exchanged hypotheticals about the characters and circumstances in the game until one of us posited, “What if Indiana Jones took the Oregon Trail?”

In writing this script, I let my 10-year-old inner child take the reins.  I imagined myself in grade school– finishing the assignment at 2:45, and getting that sweet 15 minutes before the bell to hop on the singular apple computer in the corner of the classroom.  I inserted the big floppy disk and felt the joy and awe as the kelly-green graphics began.  The first decision…what to name to wagon party.  From there, characters pretty much wrote their own story.

This show is peppered with references to the Indiana Jones franchise as well as the original Oregon Trail video game, but your familiarity with them is not required.  The characters and their antics are the life of this play.  Is it a celebration of the earliest PC games? Yes.  Does it pay homage to adventure films? Yes.  Jenn’s concept of designing the show production as a point-and-click adventure game is incredibly brilliant, and this vivacious team has held nothing back.

My mission is to make you laugh and forget about current affairs for 90 minutes. Crack a beer or two, or six, and let it all go.

This show is dedicated to the Indoor Kids. It’s for those of us who rushed home from school to sit in front of a computer and escape – escape somewhere colorful, dangerous, whimsical, challenging, and most importantly, somewhere you called the shots! Maybe they were wrong, maybe they were right, maybe we asked for help – in any case, as long a you saved judiciously – you could try again! The first time I ever heard this script out loud, I knew it was special.

It feels impossible to convey the pure joy and excitement that Sierra and LucasArts point-and-click adventure games brought to me, but this show is a good start! Real life is hard and heavy right now, those that long for a yesteryear of “simplicity” threaten to take away the vibrance of life for the monotony of sameness. This show is so deliciously irreverent, absurd and nostalgic. People have always been characters, nothin’ ain’t never been proper, and sometimes ya just need to take the journey and laugh.

I am so very grateful and humbled by the cast and crew of this show, thank you for being game to go on this journey with me! It’s made all the difference! Best of luck on the trail! Hee-YAH!