The Vision for the larp
Mad about the Boy is a larp about survivors of a global disaster which killed more than half of humanity. An inexplicable disease killed all the men in mere minutes. Now, three years later the surviving women are facing not only the enormous task of rebuilding society, but also the possible extinction of humanity. The world of the larp is inspired by the graphic novel Y the Last Man by Brian K. Vaughn and Pia Guerra.
The larp is now over. Thanks to all participants who came to game! A manuscript making it possible for others to make their own version of this larp will be published here later.
Li Xin's pictures from the first run of the larp can be viewed on Flickr.
We will not use any characters or storylines from the graphic novel, however. Our story will be about a group of women who have applied to a Nordic insemination program. As sperm has become a very precious resource, there are only a few women who will be given this privilege. The first act of the larp will center around the selection of who will get to enter the program to become mothers, and what new family structures will be the best ones to raise these precious children. Act one of the larp will end with a man entering - the only one who has survived the catastrophy. How will each woman relate to this man? He can be seen as a possible father, lover, threat, valuable resource or relic from a past best left behind for good. Before the end of the second and final act the women will have to decide what to do with him.
A larp about a world (almost) without men will of course have gender as one of it's main themes. What happens when "mankind" has become "womankind"? What does a world where women have to fill all positions and roles in society look like? The larp will be played twice. One of the games will only be open to female participants (except for the character of the last man). The other will be open to participants of all genders, but all the characters will still be women. We are interested in seeing how these two games become different and similar. Gender is not the only theme however. We will also explore themes like personal and collective loss and how different types of persons respond to and cope with an enormous crisis.
This is an ambitious larp, but despite this we will not require a lot of preparatory work from our participants. Costumes are contemporary and should be easy to find in your own closet, the closets of your friends or in second hand stores. The entire first day at the larp location will be dedicated to a character development workshop. Before the larp, participants will have received a character sketch and asked to develop their character further by answering some written questions. The larp will include some "metatechniques" which can be used to play situations and emotions which it would be difficult to fit into a pure "realistic" larp style.
The larp will be held in Norway, close to Oslo. To accommodate participants from many countries the larp will be played in English. All written materials will also be in English.
The title of the larp is taken from Nöel Coward's classic souls song Mad about the Boy