Interview: Theatre Life with David Carpenter

Today’s subject David Carpenter is currently living his theatre live as the Executive Producer and Creator of Dungeons and Dragons the Twenty-Sided Tavern. The show is currently playing in the Eisenhower Theater at the Kennedy Center through August 3rd.

David is Founder and CEO of Gamiotics, Inc which is bringing gamification to the live entertainment experience. The platform allows for the next generation of live experience storytelling by putting agency into the audiences hands.

His producing and associate producing credits for Broadway include Hands on a HardBody, Doctor Zhivago, Frankie and Johnny in the Clair de Lune and Slava’s Snowshow.

He was also lead producer for the international hit musical Puffs.

As you will read, Dungeons and Dragons the Twenty-Sided Tavern is a unique theatrical experience for many reasons.

It is the perfect way to beat the oppressive summer heat here in DC. I highly urge you to only make it about the art and grab some tickets to Dungeons and Dragons the Twenty-Sided Tavern at Kennedy Center.

David Carpenter’s creation is pushing the boundaries of what theatre can do which should be reason enough for you all to attend. It doesn’t matter if you grew up with Dungeons and Dragons or if you are a total novice going in cold because this show has something for everyone.

David Carpenter is a top flight artist who is definitely living his theatre life to the fullest.

At what point was it apparent to you that working in the performing arts was going to be your chosen profession?

It always has been. I come from an entertainment family. My great grandmother was a silent movie film star, and my grandfather was a composer for TV named Pete Carpenter who wrote the theme songs (along with Mike Post) for a ton of famous TV shows from the 70's and 80's like The Rockford Files, The A-Team, Magnum PI and many others. When I went into theatre, it was a given I would pursue a path in the entertainment world. My family has been supportive since I was very young doing theatre in Elementary School.

Where did you receive your training?

I went to Bucknell University for college and then worked off-off Broadway and the off-Broadway scene in the early 2000's.

What was your first professional arts job?

I was the assistant to the artistic director at the Mint Theatre Company in NYC in 2000, right after I graduated college.

Can you please tell us a little something about Dungeons and Dragons the Twenty- Sided Tavern?

It's a two and a half hour epic fantasy quest where we take you through an adventure that is never the same show twice. I am deeply invested in the gamification of the live entertainment experience. So, I developed a piece of software that allows the audience to help us (using the web browser on their phone) play a game of D&D right from their seats. The best part is you don't need to know a thing about D&D to have the time of your life.

Was it your idea to create the show or did someone come to you with the idea?

This all sprang from the work I did during the pandemic with Gamiotics. We did 20 hour long shows on zoom in 18 months with a team and audience scattered all over the country. One of the ideas was to do a D&D style show online. I knew as soon as we did it for an audience, it was the right idea to come back to live entertainment while the world was starting to open up. That was 4 years ago and now my show is at the Kennedy Center. A lot of people have collaborated on this over the past four years, but this always has been a platform driven experience from my tech company.

A huge amount of credit goes to our Creative Director Michael Fell for helping write and shape our current campaign, The Tomb of Havoc. He's a real talent and I am lucky to have him with this company.

Are there more challenges in producing Dungeons and Dragons the Twenty- Sided Tavern over something like Slava’s Snowshow which you also produced?                 

The technology behind this show is absolutely bonkers. We're doing stuff no one else in the theatre world is doing between Gamiotics and how we fire off our cues across our various systems since the show isn't linear and anything could happen. Slava's is breathtakingly beautiful art but is very straight forward and simple to execute. I am investing an entirely new genre of live entertainment. But they share a common ancestor of inviting the audience to play.

After 50 years, why do you think Dungeons and Dragons is still relevant in 2025?

Because it's all based in our imagination and the stories we can create and tell each other. That is a timeless part of the human existence. Telling stories to try and find meaning in our presence here in this universe is why art exists. Games just up the stakes.

Special thanks to Kennedy Center's Vice President of Public Relations Office of the President Roma Daravi for her assistance in coordinating this interview.