Play-dot Productions

[kamehamehamlet]

The KamehameHamlet Tumblr is on hiatus while I work on the script!

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[kamehamehamlet]

how are things going with kamehamehamlet?

Hey Anon, Thanks for asking, I've honestly been itching to update folks on KHH, not because there is any big news, but just because it has been on my mind lately.

When we went on hiatus about two years ago, I spent the rest of the summer helping Shalee get ready for grad school in Boston. The hope was while she was busy with school, I would have more free time to work on this show. And I did for a bit. Then, honestly, I lost a lot of my creative drive following Trumps win in 2024. By the time I got it back in 2025, it was aided by chasing a different project. And last fall, I moved out to Boston to better support Shalee in her second and final year. As a creative, I've actually felt really lucky that I've found my way back to loving and improving at drawing, something I set aside two decades ago. So, I've been drawing, working on an original graphic novel, and started a podcast have started a YouTube channel where I can explore comic craft through teaching.

Kamehamehamlet has not been on the forefront of my mind. But the thing is, I love a project on the backburner. As a writer, I often know what elements in a story I feel confident to write, and what elements require me to level up in first. (I turned this practice into a writing exercise you watch here.) For example, with KHH, I still need to improve writing 'how power shifts in two person scenes' and capturing the particular absurdity in Beckett's work. This will sound silly, but for Waiting for Goku to work, I need to understand why Vegeta and Freeza would wait around, and how to make that compelling. But even with these questions in front of me I'm not exactly chasing the answers. I've been fine letting those things percolate. Every time I would see a play, or read about an update to Dragon Ball, my mind would resurface this project. There's a bit in the original play where Freeza uses a Google Glass as a new scouter. Every dumbass wearable that's come out of Silicon Valley in the past 16 months has me rewriting that bit in my head. There was also a red-eye flight I took from DC to Boston at one point last year, and something had just *clicked* and I spent the two hours writing non-stop. Outlining a third of the play and writing a few pages of dialogue. It was such a great feeling.

Shalee just graduated and we're heading back to Minnesota soon. I have no timeline, and while it may not be coming off the backburner right away, I'm at least turning the heat up on this project. These days I work on KHH the most when I'm lying in bed. I have a dedicated file in my notes app with bullet points from these 2 am revelations. I'm getting antsy, which means I need to start making a plan. You can bet that I will share updates when I have them.

Also, I'll be talking about the Frieza arc, power levels, and these specific notes briefly during my comics stream tomorrow, so if you want to trick me into letting slip a little more than I have planned, I hope you will tune in.

Unconventional Powerscaling in Manga and Anime | Livestream comics class| Borderless Comics

Can Akane solo Goku? Let's run some comparative analysis and return to the ideas of 'units of storytelling' from our second class. Ways to s

[kamehamehamlet]

In the very bottom of this long post from Tuesday I mentioned I would be talking about influences writing and rewriting Kamehamehamlet in my weekly Comics Class stream, you can watch that here:

Unconventional Power Scaling in Manga and Anime VOD | Livestream comics class | Borderless Comics

Can Akane solo Goku? Let's run some comparative analysis and return to the ideas of 'units of storytelling' from our second class. Read Tobi

I start taking about Dragon Ball about 20 minutes in, but I recommend checking out the first bit where I set up the context.

Also if you're following Akane-banashi, spoilers for up to Episode 10 of the anime.

Also, I reference Tobias Drake's post in the stream which you can read here.

[kamehamehamlet]

how are things going with kamehamehamlet?

Hey Anon, Thanks for asking, I've honestly been itching to update folks on KHH, not because there is any big news, but just because it has been on my mind lately.

When we went on hiatus about two years ago, I spent the rest of the summer helping Shalee get ready for grad school in Boston. The hope was while she was busy with school, I would have more free time to work on this show. And I did for a bit. Then, honestly, I lost a lot of my creative drive following Trumps win in 2024. By the time I got it back in 2025, it was aided by chasing a different project. And last fall, I moved out to Boston to better support Shalee in her second and final year. As a creative, I've actually felt really lucky that I've found my way back to loving and improving at drawing, something I set aside two decades ago. So, I've been drawing, working on an original graphic novel, and started a podcast have started a YouTube channel where I can explore comic craft through teaching.

Kamehamehamlet has not been on the forefront of my mind. But the thing is, I love a project on the backburner. As a writer, I often know what elements in a story I feel confident to write, and what elements require me to level up in first. (I turned this practice into a writing exercise you watch here.) For example, with KHH, I still need to improve writing 'how power shifts in two person scenes' and capturing the particular absurdity in Beckett's work. This will sound silly, but for Waiting for Goku to work, I need to understand why Vegeta and Freeza would wait around, and how to make that compelling. But even with these questions in front of me I'm not exactly chasing the answers. I've been fine letting those things percolate. Every time I would see a play, or read about an update to Dragon Ball, my mind would resurface this project. There's a bit in the original play where Freeza uses a Google Glass as a new scouter. Every dumbass wearable that's come out of Silicon Valley in the past 16 months has me rewriting that bit in my head. There was also a red-eye flight I took from DC to Boston at one point last year, and something had just *clicked* and I spent the two hours writing non-stop. Outlining a third of the play and writing a few pages of dialogue. It was such a great feeling.

Shalee just graduated and we're heading back to Minnesota soon. I have no timeline, and while it may not be coming off the backburner right away, I'm at least turning the heat up on this project. These days I work on KHH the most when I'm lying in bed. I have a dedicated file in my notes app with bullet points from these 2 am revelations. I'm getting antsy, which means I need to start making a plan. You can bet that I will share updates when I have them.

Also, I'll be talking about the Frieza arc, power levels, and these specific notes briefly during my comics stream tomorrow, so if you want to trick me into letting slip a little more than I have planned, I hope you will tune in.

Unconventional Powerscaling in Manga and Anime | Livestream comics class| Borderless Comics

Can Akane solo Goku? Let's run some comparative analysis and return to the ideas of 'units of storytelling' from our second class. Ways to s

[danielmauleon]

LIVE: Art of Adaptation | Akane-Banashi Ep. 1| Borderless Comics

What can the limitations of Akane-banashi episode 1 teach us about the craft of comics. Please support the anime: https://www.youtube.com/@a

Comics Class is in Session! I have a new YouTube channel launching with a series of livestreamed lectures about the new anime Akane-banashi and the manga it is based on! I love this series so much that I've previously taught lectures about the manga in undergrad and graduate classes, now that the new anime is out, I want to use it as a lens to talk about the original series.

And if you live in the America's you're in luck because the anime is streaming for free on YouTube here: Akane-banashi Global - YouTube New episodes of the Anime release on Saturdays, and I'll be hosting weekly craft livestreams the following Tuesday at 7:00 PM!

[danielmauleon]

Image description: A four panel comic in shades of blue. (Continues after break)

Panel text: "My phone is a window into the horrors of occupation. // struggle to find the line between witnessing and doomscrolling. / So am playing a lot of Tetris." Panel image: a blue grid on a white background.

Panel text: played Tetris after watching the footage of Renee Good's murder from three angles. week later, paused a livestream on my phone of ICE agents in North about a mile away from my house. could see pops of light, clouds of tear gas illuminated by flashbangs, from my bedroom window. / played Tetris before going to bed. Two days later was in a virtual meeting when the shouts & car homs started. ICE was raiding the gas station on my corner. got my whistle. |played Tetris, my ears still ringing." Panel image: three different Tetris pieces serve as text boxes, with several more in the background.

Panel text: "For the last few decades scientists have studied how playing Tetris can influence traumatic memories. / The research is still young & inconclusive, but it suggests that playing Tetris shortly after experiencing a traumatic event might reduce the lasting negative effects. For me, it has been grounding to play whenever feel my anxiety start to shut me down, even if the science turns out to be flawed and there are no long term benefits. / That said..." Panel image: a Tetris piece aligns with an open slot on an in-progress Tetris board. Panel text: know ICE wants me to live in terror as they harass, abduct, and murder my neighbors and threaten my family. / So, I've been playing a lot of Tetris because want to believe that any attempt at selfcare in the face of fascism is an act of hope. / It's choosing to fight back against despair, one line at a time" Panel image: the Tetris piece thunks into place, completing a row, which then cracks apart like ice cubes. Large text at the bottom overlaid on more ice fragments reads "ABOLISHICE"

[danielmauleon]

My second #IceOutComic Image description: A four-panel comic in watercolor + pen, with digital lettering. (Continues after break)

Title: PARK STREET STATION

By: Daniel Cole Mauleón

#ICEOUTCOMICS #ICEOUTMPLS #ICEOUTBOSTON

Panel 1: The panel is split nearly in half-diagonally. Top/Left is in various shades of blue and depicts a Metro Transit Blue Line Train, the train is bisected at the diagonal. Bottom/Right in various shades of gray is a Boston Green Line train.

Caption 1 [Typeface is emulates handwriting, above the train]:

I read that the light rail to the general strike rally in Minneapolis was so packed some people had to wait for up to four trains to pass before they could board.

Caption 2 [Below the train]:

A day later, I boarded a Green Line train in Boston to an emergency protest after Alex Pretti's execution.

Panel 2: Interior of a Green Line Train, in shades of gray. We're looking straight on at a row of empty seats.

Caption:

I easily found a seat.

I tried listening in to learn if anyone one else was heading to the protest.

Shalee and I had been back in Boston for less than a week. We had to keep reminding people that "no, our winter break in Minneapolis was not relaxing."

Panel 3: Interior Park Street Station, from the bottom of the stairs, and looking up and out of the station*. It is dark outside. The wide stairwell is empty, and the scene is colored in shades of gray.

Four, spiked word balloons travel down the panel originating from outside. The balloons and tails are deteriorated, but they are colored bright blue. The text inside is also blue and blurred.

Panel 4: Exterior. Boston Commons. A crowd, in various shades of bright blue, gather in front for the Boston Common Tablet at the NE side of the park. The crowd wears winter gear and holds up (wordless) signs. The background is shades of gray, and the crowd breaks free of the panel borders, bleeding out to the edge of the image.

Crowd [Balloons have thick blue outlines, typeface looks like painted  letters, words are also a vibrant blue] :

WE'RE NOT COLD

WE'RE NOT AFRAID!

'MINNE' TAUGHT US TO BE BRAVE!

Caption:

For the first time in weeks, I cried.

[danielmauleon]

[danielmauleon]

Today I'm releasing an indie game! You can play it for free on PC, Mac, Linux, and Android! After dipping my toes into game design work in early 2023, my wife and friends hosted a Game Jam for my birthday (The Gamiel Jamiel). With the theme, 'Season', my team started brainstorming an overcooked inspired card game. 48 hours later we had a workable game with basic mechanics, four levels, and a short narrative. As narrative/writing lead, I learned a ton that weekend but in the following months, my group started talking about polishing the game. We built a plan around additional jams and throughout 2024 kept working on More Than You Can Chew. We added an arcade mode, expanded the story( and added voice-over), and our developer went ham on UI and game feel bringing it to an incredible level of polish. I'd say more about the narrative but will leave that for another time, once it's out in the world for a bit. It's available for PC, MAC, Linux, and Android all via Itch! I hope you enjoy :D

[kamehamehamlet]

It's been a bit radio silent on the KHH page (we just passed one year since we announced the revival!) but I wanted to share one of the many projects I've been working on for the last two years!

[kamehamehamlet]

Archival Post: Super Saiyan Goku

In celebration of hitting our email subscriber goal, let me share a piece of a KamehameHamlet draft.

@iamarealhumanbeing asked this question in @amokslime's original post! During our livestream today, I answered:

We eventually cut this because we couldn't afford another actor for the last minute of a play but it also meant we lost maybe the best of the show, so please enjoy a look at an early draft.

We'll be streaming every Saturday in June from 4pm to 7pm CST. Come hang out!

[kamehamehamlet]

Blossom (Bre'Elle Erickson) and The Mayor (Natalie Rae Wass). Puffbots (Jessica Smith and Amanda Chial). Don't mind me taking a moment to remember just how great our costumes were! Shout out to our costumer Sarah Simon who also worked on KamehameHamlet. Photo by Alex Wohlhueter.

Play-Dot Archives: Mayor Lear May Wrap Up

Thank you all for joining us for a very fun and silly Mayor Lear May (week) and enjoy this last-minute promo (below) we made for our final weekend of the run in 2017 I'll link all the archival posts below, and don't forget to join us for our Spirit Bomb Rally Stream tomorrow! Shalee and will be back to tackle the ever-growing list of reblogs so hop in and ask us a question or two about Mayor Lear or Kamehamehamlet! Until then, Lord Abracadaver of Minneaspolissville, signing off. Mayor Lear Archival Posts:

Mayor Lear Promo Poster

What is Mayor Lear?

Mayor Lear Projections

Mayor Lear's Cave Scene

[kamehamehamlet]

Archives: Promo Poster Set #2

To promote KamehameHamlet in 2015 we put up seven posters at CONvergence a large Sci-fi and Fantasy (and like all geeky things really) convention in the Twin Cities. Each poster had a modified Shakespeare quote, matching character, and one of the seven dragonballs. I'll post the remaining four next week! Check out the other posters here! Check out our previous archive post featuring Freeza's tail here! And don't miss our upcoming rally stream this Saturday!

[kamehamehamlet]

The Tumblr reblog sensation is returning. But like the Sayians or Shakespeare’s folios, it has the potential to develop in many forms.

Visit kamehamehamlet.com to be notified when we have more details.

Follow this blog for a peak behind the curtain.

And read on to learn more about the show, how we got here, and where we’re going.

Thank you for waiting just a little bit longer.

Revival Project Q&A

Who are you?

Hi! I’m Daniel Cole Mauleón (@writepictures), the writer of Kamehamehamlet. In 2015 I co-founded the theatre company Play-Dot Productions with KHH’s director Shalee Mae Cole Mauleón.

What is Kamehamehamlet?

Kamehamehamlet: Good Night Saiyan Prince, was an hour-long one act play, performed during the 2015 Minnesota Fringe Festival. It’s a staged retelling of Vegeta and Freeza’s battle on the planet Namek. Marketed as a Dragon Ball Z and Hamlet mash-up, the parody quickly shuffled off its weighted gi, revealing it was actually a Waiting for Godot spoof. After five performances, Vegeta hung up his helmet of spiky hair. Seven years later, K (@amokslime) wrote this incredibly gracious post on Tumblr, which inspired two people to reach out to me via Reddit to ask if I had a script or a recording of the performance.

I want to pause the semi-marketing voice and say a heartfelt thanks to K. Kamehamehamlet was brought to life by an incredible team of artists during a summer I’ll never forget. We got laughs at jokes, gasps at fight choreography, and we broke even on the budget (a Fringe miracle TBH). K’s post gave me the chance to revisit that show through someone else’s eyes. The mix of pride and humility it stirs up is truly indescribable.

If there is art which has changed you, and especially if the artist is still alive I encourage you to non-intrusively share that with the artist.

Is there a copy of the script?

Yes, I’ll speak more about that at below.

Is there a recording of the performance?

There was, but I genuinely lost the files. And that’s for the best, honestly. It was a last-second attempt, filmed from two cheap cameras (with different qualities and resolutions!), both at bad angles and with truly awful audio. Trust me. It’s better this way.

That said, I do have other archival footage from rehearsal's, tech, etc. that I look forward to sharing for those curious.

What’s next?

This is the question I’ve been asking myself over the past year and the reason it took so long to post anything. Especially since one thing I want to do differently this time is make sure that any artists involved are meaningfully compensated for their time and skill. However, I can’t plan without a better estimate of what kind of support we would have, and I didn’t want to share our intentions without concrete details. Right now, the best way you can support this project is by signing up for the announcement on kamehamehamlet.com and following us on Tumblr and YouTube!

The second best thing you can do is to share with others about this project, if I’ve learned anything reading through the comments on K’s post, it is that there’s a much bigger audience for KHH than I could have ever imagined, and you likely know at least one more person who would be interested.

And while I don’t want to promise anything I can’t deliver on, I will share that I’m planning on making the script available this year and I’ll be writing a separate post about that in near future.

Update 5/21/24: We've announced a staged reading for later this year!

If you’ve read this far thank you so much.

Photography by Ann B. Erickson. Vegeta is played by McKenzie Shappell. Freeza is played by Cayla Marie Wolpers. Costumes by Sarah Noel Simon.

[kamehamehamlet]

Added some new links to our big announcement post and figured why not reblog!

[kamehamehamlet]

Archives: Promo Poster Set #1

To promote KamehameHamlet in 2015 we put up seven posters at CONvergence a large Sci-fi and Fantasy (and like all geeky things really) convention in the Twin Cities. Each poster had a modified Shakespeare quote, matching character, and one of the seven dragonballs. I'll post the remaining four tomorrow! Check out our previous archives post featuring Freeza's tail here! And don't miss our weekly rally stream this Saturday!

[kamehamehamlet]

I dont think I'll ever get to watch kamehamehamlet, since i live very far away, but i hope it goes well!

Hi Ospreyonthemoon! Hopefully, you will be able to see KamehameHamlet too! Currently, our only plan is to livestream a staged reading; this would likely be on YouTube, and I don't think it would be region-locked. Additionally, I want to make the script available for others to perform so who knows, a performance could always pop-up near you in the future! I talk a bit more about both of these plans in this post. Thanks for reaching out!

[slimemanagement]

🩷 BADMAN 🩷

[kamehamehamlet]

More KamehameHamlet posts coming soon, I promise!

If you need your DBZ fix be sure to follow @slimemanagement, K's art blog! The above art is just one of many BADMAN illustration's you need to see!

Also, if you missed the announcement that K will be creating the cover art for the revised script you can view that here.

[amokslime]

Hey! It's me! I'm beyond excited to finally be able to show you my cover art for the @kamehamehamlet script.

Thank you so much, Daniel, for commissioning me to draw two of my favorite characters of all time, during my favorite arc of the series. And a massive thank you to whichever tumblr user/s reached out to ask him about it. Now I'll get to experience a play I never thought I'd get to see again. Seeing it all those years ago really did pull me out of the most difficult art slump of my life. Seeing the actors have so much fun, while being so emotionally sensitive, made me remember why I fell in love with making art in the first place. So I'm really looking forward to reading the script and seeing the staged reading! I hope we can all enjoy it together.

Here's the latest informational post about the script. Please take a look, and please reblog to make everybody look at my drawings of vegeta to make sure all the folks who are lamenting that they missed it get their chance.

[kamehamehamlet]

Still so excited about this!! Ahhh! Thanks again K!

Also, K just started a new art account you should follow here: @slimemanagement !

[kamehamehamlet]

Revival Project Update: The 2024 transformation! 👀👀

Thanks again to everyone who has shown support since we announced the project less than a month ago. I'm so excited to share more details about our goals for this year! I previously mentioned that I'm working to make the script available this year, what I didn't mention is that I'm revising the script, and you will be able to experience KamehameHamlet with a special staged reading of this transformed play with the original KHH cast and director on board!

The reading will be streamed online and recorded for later viewing, and following the reading we will make the revised and original scripts available.

There is one more very meaningful and super radical detail about the revised script that I'll include here when it is announced shortly.

Be sure you don't miss the details by signing up for email updates at KamehameHamlet.com and read on to learn more about the script and staged reading!

More about the script

Why are you rewriting the script?

I'll share another post this weekend breaking down the reasoning behind the rewrite. I'll link to that post here when it's up!

How will the scripts be published?

At the very least, both scripts will be available in digital form for anyone to read. However, I will also be looking into options for printing physical copies.

Will we be able to perform the script?

This is a goal of mine, so I'm looking into options that can support myself and Play-Dot while also making the play accessible to artists of all budgets.

Any way this new version will let me be pedantic to strangers online?

Yes! The original KamehameHamlet had the subtitle 'Good Night Saiyan Prince' the revised version uses the subtitle 'Waiting for Goku.'

More about the staged reading

What is a staged reading?

Staged readings can be pretty varied, but in general, it's a stripped-down production without costumes, lights, blocking, etc. Actors are familiar with the script and may have gone through some rehearsal, but aren't expected to memorize lines.

Why a staged reading and not a full production?

I answered this question yesterday which you can read here. In summary, a staged reading will be a much easier goal to accomplish with fewer risks involved.

What should we expect from a staged reading of KHH?

A lot of these details are still up in the air. Whether we gather the actors on zoom, or bring everyone together with a professional recording equipment, the goal is to make sure it's available for people to view online. To that end I'm looking into costs for a few different levels of quality, and following that we will look into options around funding.

I want the staged reading to be incredible, how can I support it?

Right now, the best way to support the KamehameHamlet Revival Project is to:

Sign-up for email updates: This tells me you are willing to navigate off of Tumblr by a few clicks, to support or view KHH content.

Follow this blog: This helps to make sure you don't miss updates!

Share our posts: Amokslime's original post is nearing 20,000 notes. First of all, that's insane! However, the majority of people who have seen that post still don't know we are working to bring KHH back. You can help spread the word by reblogging our updates and if you see a mutual sharing the OG post, consider reblogging with our announcement!

[amokslime]

Hey! It's me! I'm beyond excited to finally be able to show you my cover art for the @kamehamehamlet script.

Thank you so much, Daniel, for commissioning me to draw two of my favorite characters of all time, during my favorite arc of the series. And a massive thank you to whichever tumblr user/s reached out to ask him about it. Now I'll get to experience a play I never thought I'd get to see again. Seeing it all those years ago really did pull me out of the most difficult art slump of my life. Seeing the actors have so much fun, while being so emotionally sensitive, made me remember why I fell in love with making art in the first place. So I'm really looking forward to reading the script and seeing the staged reading! I hope we can all enjoy it together.

I also posted the drawing here. Please take a look, and please reblog to make everybody look at my drawings of vegeta to make sure all the folks who are lamenting that they missed it get their chance.

[kamehamehamlet]

This was the secret radical detail I teased above! I'm so so so happy K was game to create the cover for our new addition of KHH and I love this art so much! Please reblog to make everybody look at K's drawings of vegeta to make sure all the folks who are lamenting that they missed it get their chance.

[kamehamehamlet]

At the risk of sounding Insane, will the unedited/original version of the script also be available, so we can see how the show has changed over the years?

You don't sound insane! Or we're both about to... Another dream of mine would be to release a fancy annotated version of KHH like all those Shakespeare editions I love and would either include the original in its entirety or highlight what the changes are etc. Since that's less likely the original script will be made available as well, likely in a digital form. I'm still working away on my post about the direction of the revision which will explain more!