Emry Sottile is an active role-player, theatre practitioner, dramaturg, stage manager, and writer in the PhD program. Prior to their doctoral work, they received an M.A. in War in Society, a B.F.A. in Television Writing and Production, and a B.A. in History from Chapman University. Their research is situated within theatre, queer, and role-playing game studies and focuses on fantasy-based performance practices —including table-top role-playing games and Renaissance Faires— that push the limits of what can be considered ‘theatre’ and have utopian potential for participants in the face of digital age neoliberalism. Their secondary research interest focuses on musical theatre as a site of cultural memory in Western society that can make and break myths surrounding both national and personal identity and past research examines musical theatre representations of American war in East Asia from the 1940s to the present day and the evolution of Second World War memory on and off-Broadway.