I say a little prayer

Just a little lovin' was a larp about homosexuality, friendship, HIV and death that blew many of the participants' minds. It has been run several times in several countries and even sparked debate in the mass media. Didn't you get to play it? Or did you play it but want more? Now one of the creators, Tor Kjetil Edland, has made small freeform scenario over the same theme. Five gay men are sharing an apartment in a Nordic capital in the early 80s. By end of every act the lottery of death will make the group lose its members.

Sorry we've kept you waiting. Here is "Waiting".

It's been a while since we updated the program, but we promise to get better at releasing new larps in the coming weeks. So, while being sorry for keeping you waiting, we're happy to release the next larp: "Waiting" (sic.). ”Waiting” is an absurd game about waiting and friendship. The story is driven by techniques such as acts and the use of cue cards. What is waiting? What happens when waiting? Is there more to life than waiting? ”Try again. Fail again. But fail better.”

This Swedish scenario is created by Samuel Bäck, Joel Östlund and Martin Rother-Schirren.

Photo credit: nanao wagatsuma/Flickr

Killed in the name of honour (PA)

The third larp we release for this year's Grenselandet programme is from Palestine. Killed in the Name of Honour raises the issue of honor killings, a phenomenon that is still a significant problem in Palestine and several other Middle Eastern countries. Killed in the Name of Honour is set in a fictional matriarchal society in early history. A young boy has been killed by his sister for disgracing his family. A trial ensues, where traditions is put against the right to life, in a village where social status has a stronger impact than rule of law.

Killed in the name of honour was first played at the Beit Byout festival in Ramallah in 2013. It was written by Bisan Samareh, Riham Kharroub and Urieb Samad for the Palestinian Larpwriter Challenge.

Photo: UN Photo/Jawad Jalali, Flickr Creative Commons

First two larps: Blind animals and lost souls

We are happy to announce the first larps for Grenselandet's programme in 2014. From Sweden, we are bringing in Falling Through the Cracks by Elin Gissén, and from Denmark we have booked Beginning by Nina Runa Essendrop.

Falling Through the Cracks is a larp about people who have some kind of traumas that make them become invisible, and therefore disappearing into UnderStockholm. The larp has three acts, the first one being life before the fall, the second and abstract act of the fall into UnderStockholm and the third and last act when entering UnderStockholm. The larp uses props to visualize the characters and all players get to play support characters in addition to their own main character.

Beginning is a larp about blind beings waking up for the first time. Through an extensive pre-larp workshops, the players get familiar with moving and playing when not seeing, and taken into a magical world of sound, smells and feelings, but with no sight. Gradully, the beings learn to move in different ways and explore the world and the other creatures that live there. An intense and different experience.

Art credit: Lexwba @Deviantart

Dates for 2014

This year's festival will take place on October 17th and 18th. Our main venue will be Riksscenen, and we will also use the nearby scenes of Deichman and Øvingshotellet. With four blackbox scenes as well as several rooms for studio larps and freeform scenarios, we look very much forward to welcoming you to the 5th Grenselandet.

Fresh from playtesting

We're pleased to bring you another larp for Grenselandet, this one was playtested just yesterday. Debt and Deliverance raises some interesting questions about distribution through a scenario about a reality show in a world similar to ours, just with more debt and less social support.

Signup for individual larps is open from now until Wednesday at 14:00. You can rearrange your preferences until the singup closes.

Rush tickets

Pre-signup for Grenselandet has now closed. Missed it? Don't despair. We've reserved a handful of spots for people who meet up without pre-registration. It is possible to buy last minute "rush tickets" for larps where there are available spots.

To buy a rush ticket, just meet up at the community house in Korsgata at least 30 minutes before the larps start (i.e. Friday 16:30, Saturday 10:30 or Saturday 16:30). You can put your name on the waiting list for any of the larps that will take place in that section of the festival. If the larp is not full and/or someone doesn't show up, you get to play. A rush ticket costs NOK 70 for each larp (free of charge for people who have never tried larp before). If you don't get a spot, you don't pay anything.

Photo: John Ragai/Flickr/Creative Commons