Performing the Game: Demystifying Live Action Role-Play (LARP)

Focusing on the activities of LARGE (the Live Action Role-Playing Guild of Edmonton), several performance concepts are explored using the primary sources of five interview subjects and the author’s auto-ethnographic perspective on participating in LARPs in the Edmonton area. Some of these performance concepts are how LARP can be considered “improv in disguise,” how the use of rules systems both helps and hinders ideas of agency and immersion, and how issues of consent are essential to the success of creating a shared reality among diverse personalities. The article begins with an auto-ethnographic description of the LARP event Broken Covenant, which leads to explaining how LARGE began and how it differs from more well-known boffer LARPS. The article then drills down on the varied histories of the interview subjects and explores the concept of improvisation in LARP as ‘yes, but…,’ in comparison to the well-known improv mantra of ‘yes, and. …’ Agency and immersion are explored, leading to a discussion of emotional investment and, most important, consent. The article demonstrates that there is a vibrant and sophisticated LARP community in Edmonton (mostly transplanted from Saskatoon) creating performances in the non-traditional milieu of LARP.