Review: RUNESICAL, Streaming Online

Gigglemug Theatre pride themselves on seriously silly entertainment, and are fast gaining a reputation for creating musicals celebrating unusual subjects. In 2022 they premiered RuneSical, an interactive show based on the perennially popular online game RuneScape.

Following live runs in Edinburgh, Cambridge and London, the production is now available free on YouTube in a “choose your own adventure” format that puts the audience in control of the action.

For all the “noobs” out there, RuneScape is a free MMORPG (massively multiplayer online role-playing game), recognised by Guinness World Records to be the largest and most updated game of its kind. Set in the fantasy world of Gielinor, it’s a non-linear game where players with customisable avatars can interact collaboratively or competitively to achieve objectives of their own choosing. So if ever there were a topic that lends itself to an online musical adventure, this would be it. 

RuneSical sees Lance_054 (Christian Maynard) immersing himself in the online world to escape life at home with his annoying stepsister. Lance soon finds himself on a quest to slay a monster, with a little help from the audience. Filmed in front of a live audience at The Town & Gown Theatre in Cambridge (the home of Runescape), the production is split into a series of short videos, with the online viewer choosing their path at the end of each segment. There are over 20 videos to explore in total, although intrepid adventurers will only encounter seven in any one journey, giving them scope to go back to the beginning and start their quest again.

Although there are technically many different paths to the end, they are all broadly similar, so the viewer doesn’t truly get to influence the action. The various choices still take you on the same journey, albeit with some slightly different sidequests. It’s still worth going back and trying the other options though, not least because there are some different songs along the way, and you may find that you miss out on some of the best ones if you don’t take a trip to both the Wilderness and the Mountain Dungeons.

Like Gigglemug’s most recent production, Scouts! The Musical, it’s a fun production that doesn’t require familiarity with the subject matter but will undoubtedly offer extra to those who are a part of the community that it celebrates. Similarly to Scouts!, the show offers a generous helping of silliness, with a message about connection and community at its core. The storyline (by Sam Cochrane and Alex Precot) is stronger than Scouts!, with the online fantasy world lending itself well to surprising twists and turns. The songs are a bit of a mixed bag, but there are some really catchy ones too. 

RuneSical very much has a fringe vibe, feeling true to Gigglemug’s roots as a student theatre company.  It’s geeky, low-tech and includes a heavy dose of Gigglemug’s trademark audience participation, all of which really suits the RuneScape context. Although the ability to make choices gives the online audience the chance to be a part of the action, it still feels like quite a passive experience, and would probably be more enjoyable live. That being said, it’s fantastic to see companies like Gigglemug continuing to create digital theatre, making their work accessible to a broader audience and bringing together different communities.

Whether you're a seasoned gamer or a stagey noob, a quest awaits you in Gielinor.

RuneSical is available to stream for free on YouTube now.

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