Dreams, death, life

Designer: Laura Wood

Number of participants: 10

Duration: 3 hours

The presenter feels that this larp IS suitable for young people aged 16+

About the larp

One night in an isolated college town in the hills of Southern California, a first-year student stumbles into her room and falls asleep. She sleeps through the morning, into the evening. Her roommate cannot rouse her. Neither can the paramedics, nor the perplexed doctors at the hospital. When a second girl falls asleep, and then a third, panic takes hold of the college and spreads to the town. A young couple tries to protect their newborn baby as the once-quiet streets descend into chaos. Two sisters turn to each other for comfort as their survivalist father prepares for disaster.

Based on The Dreamers by Karen Thompson Walker this larp follows a group of University students in quarantine after the outbreak of a sleeping sickness. It deals with themes of mortality, morality and growing up.

Content Warnings: Illness, death and bereavement are prominent themes. Social anxiety and pregnancy are also present in two of the characters, but players can be cast away from that.

Some of the scenes take place in low level light. Movement is not required during these scenes.

Presented by

Laura Wood: Laura has designed several larps which have run in several countries throughout Europe including Here Comes a Candle, Down the Line and Inside. She is a co-organiser for The Smoke (London’s International Larp Festival), The Clinic, On Location and The Immersivist Club.

Parameters

Physical contact	Moderate contact; e.g. hugging, formal partner dancing
Romance and intimacy	Symbolic kissing or sex; e.g. stage kisses, abstractly representing sex
Conflict and violence	Shouting and other intimidating actions not involving contact
Communication style	Lots of speech
Movement style	Walking
Characters	Characters are fully predesigned
Narrative control	Players have some influence over story, but there is basically a script or structure that they’re within
Transparency	Transparent design, but players can create secrets during play and keep them from each other / reveal them when wished
Representation level	The fictional space is pretty similar to the play space
Play culture	The whole concept of rivalry or cooperation between players doesn’t really apply
Tone	Intense

Sunday afternoon, Studio 6