(( Posted with permission of author. )) Date sent: Mon, 07 May 2001 00:50:57 -0500 From: Bill Sherman Subject: Deadly LARP In the 1960's, Peter Brook, a former RSC director, wrote a book called "The Empty Space." This book is relatively short, easy to read, and a cornerstone of theater theory from the 20th Century. It is also a great book for LARP theory as well. Brook looks at theater and divides it into four main categories: Holy, Rough, Immediate, and Deadly. Each of these elements can occur in a single performance or show. Holy Theater occurs when the performance "makes the invisible visible" and reveals a truth of human existence on a deep or profound level. It doesn't need to be highbrow, it just needs to transcend the earthy stuff and reveal something greater. Rough Theater is the land of the rough, basic, simple, and crude. It is farce, slapstick, physical humor, fart jokes, and all the things that poke fun at our selves, our bodies, and our social conventions. Immediate Theater is a state that occurs when the actors directly connect with the audience and the performance has a freshness and vitality to it. There is a human responsiveness between actors and audience. It is in-the-moment. Deadly Theater is the theater of thoughtless repetition. A theatrical company that does "Midsummer's Night" each season because it fills the seats creates Deadly Theater. Actors create Deadly Theater when they perform on-stage on auto-pilot, performing their parts like automaton. Audiences create Deadly Theater when they go to a play because it's "Shakespeare," so it must be good for us. Deadly Theater is a drudgery of mindless repetition where creativity is discouraged. It has no risk, no life, no energy, no creativity, or purpose. It leaves the actors bored and the audience unsatisfied. Now, certainly Brook discusses these concept much more fully, but let's take a look at how "Deadly Theater" can apply to LARP. What happens when players and storytellers fall into habits? Let's run a scene. A: "Hey it's Saturday. Let's go to a game." B: "Ok. Where." A: "I dunno." B: "It's the third weekend, that means BLARG has a game." A: "Think anyone else will be there?" B: "I need XP for my character" [A and B travel to game. ST gives game briefing.] ST: "Ok, you meet at the usual place. Go roleplay." [Soon Afterward....] A: "I'm bored." C: "I downloaded a cool mp3 on Napster." ST: "Really? Cool. What did you find?" This short interaction displays about four counts of Deadly LARP, shown by both players and storytellers. Perhaps its time to start considering how to end the Deadly aspects of LARP. If we, as storytellers, walk around in a daze, or if we seem bored ourselves, then expect that players will follow our cue. Perhaps its time that we, as storytellers, begin to question how to infuse life and creativity into our games. Overall, that's a big project, but it's a really interesting one. One likely step is to start showing that we, as storyteller-entertainers, have a good time at games and want others to have fun too. Another way is to discover player interests and encourage them. Our best stories happen when players and storytellers work together to create a great story. Bill Sherman GL RST #9605-146 "We are the music makers, and we are the dreamers of dreams."