Wizards, humans, magical creatures, and faeries attend a mundane community’s summer solstice festival. Magic is in the air, voices are stilled, and dreams can come true at a cost. Tonight shifting auras will grant attendees terrifying mystical power to pursue their desires. How far will you go to get what you want? When you are all-powerful, what is actually important to you?
What
Glamourous Night is a larp about faerie magic and wizards’ hubris for 15-25 players. It is an abstract and musical experience exploring the themes of temptation and choice. This event is a playtest for an unfinished larp designed by Jon Cole.
In Glamourous Night, players use two movement techniques to perform ensorcelling magic as their characters. Characters will experience joyful exploration and tempting darkness as they share, subjugate, and are subjugated.
When
Sunday September 1st, 2019, from 1:30 to 6 pm
Background
This is an alpha playtest of a larp. Glamourous Night isn’t finished, and this will be one of the first times it is played. There might be big holes missing or rough patches in play. If this larp sounds interesting to you even though it may not be a coherent start to finish narrative experience, we will be very glad to have you join us!
Details on the larp
Setting and Situation
This larp is set in a medieval European world where magic and myth is reality. On the summer solstice a mundane community holds their annual celebration. This year, a mysterious covenant of wizards invited the community invited the villagers to celebrate in a mystically significant river valley. Elders say that the valley has strange auras that shift between magical and faerie. This solstice, human emotion and excitement have drawn faeries through the ancient mysts, seeking playmates and playthings.
Play Style
Glamourous Night represents magical interactions with two movement techniques, so that magic in this world is a full body experience. Instead of a flick of wand and saying a Latin word, magic in this larp involves improvising body movement under specific constraints. The two techniques are simple to learn and the ‘rules’ of how to move make it easy to use and improvise spells.
This game uses music to inspire the story and there will be a soundtrack for each scene and act of the game. Movement is the most important way to communicate in this larp. Characters can talk to one another but they cannot resolve their conflict by speech alone.
You might like this larp if:
- You want to play with temptation, power, and revenge.
- You like having unique, unusual experiences that you can tell your friends about later.
- You have personal interest in fairy tales, rituals, or the power of music.
- You are interested in the games White Death, Ribbon Drive, Sarabande, My Jam, Before and After Silence.
- You enjoy other activities that have ‘rules’ for improvised movement such as contact improv, interplay, or blues dancing.
- You are a fan of Ars Magica, the setting for this larp.
Where
EMERGE Community Development in North Minneapolis
Free parking on site. Metro Transit lines 5, 14, 30, and 32 stop nearby.
Tickets
Get a ticket by filling out the Glamourous Night registration form. Unlike some of our other events, these tickets are first come first served. Once you have a ticket you don’t need to do anything else besides show up to play!
On the day of the event we request a pay-what-you-want goodwill cash donation ($5-$10 suggested) to support the work of EMERGE in appreciation for the use of their space. No one will be turned away if they are unable to make a donation.
Details about Movement Techniques
Ars Rego
The Art of Direction is a technique created by Maria and Jeppe Bergmann Hamming for the larp Spellbound. This movement technique represents a seductive domination of will. The technique has been thoroughly playtested with regards to consent, and Spellbound was the toast of the European festival circuit in 2018.
The technique involves one player consensually ‘binding’ another with a visible marker like a ribbon and then directing their movements through hand to hand contact. It’s advanced forms include adding more followers and leading movement from afar with hand gestures. Interestingly, players report becoming sensitive to their partner’s location and know all the time where the other is. It allows players to roleplay losing control to dark, sexy magic in a way that feels very safe.
Ars Canto
The Art of Enchantment is a counterpart to Ars Rego, purpose built for this larp. It is intended to represent mutual spellcasting, performing arcane experiments with a willing participant, and other egalitarian magical interactions.
The technique involves two players using a point of contact to share weight between them. Participants play with moving the point at which they make contact between their hands, arms, and upper back. With a few minutes of practice people can use this technique to express their character’s mindset, react to their partner’s emotion, or interact with multiple people at the same time. Pre-alpha playtesters said they wanted to play the technique again and that sharing contact feels like a playful, mutual exploration.
Other Information
Accessibility
Our venue is fully ADA compliant and climate-controlled, with locking single stall bathrooms and plenty of seating.
The movement techniques were originally developed for temporarily able people with people who have moderate stamina and flexibility. Do not hesitate to reach out, we are willing to work with you to make accommodations, limited by our budget or budget of time and financial resources.
Content Advisory
A key element of play is magical mind control, which is portrayed via a meta-technique that emphasizes player consent. Still, characters will be temporarily controlled by others before the tables are turned. Sexual violence is a banned theme for this larp, instead control will be used by character’s to pursue their lives’ ambitions.
This is a highly physical larp where the majority of play is done via non-verbal movement techniques. All techniques will be taught and no prior skills are needed to play!
Costumes
Do wear clothing that is comfortable to move in for long periods of time. Otherwise, no costuming is required.
Social
After game some folks will probably go get a bite to eat together at Maya Cuisine on Central Ave. Folks who didn’t attend the larp are welcome to attend this part.
Contact
Contact us with any questions or concerns!
Image credits: Johannes Plenio (CC BY 4.0) and Glenn Follow (CC BY-NC-SA 2.0)