The future of larp

As a phenomenon, where will larp go in the future?
This article is written from a Norwegian perspective. Even if some aspects may be unique to Norway, I still believe this article would be relevant in other Nordic countries and maybe even to the rest of the larp-world.

After roughly fifteen years of larping in Norway, it may be time to look to the future? One thing for certain is the fact that larp is no longer a tiny little subcultural phenomena. Nowadays, if you try to explain what you do, quite a lot of people will know someone who tried larp once, or they have some notion of what it is. This notion may of course not be particularly correct, not for those of us who regards themselves as avantgardistic artists or those of us that look upon themselves as "special" kids. Still, many have heard of us, and many know what it is we do. If nothing else, they may have registered references to larp in the media, and in cartoons such as Nemi.

- So what, where is this phenomenon going?

I have generally chosen to use the term 'phenomena' about larp, not art, not theatre, not entertainment or play. As the larp-community has not been able to produce a singular term for what we do (except larp), I find it unwise to use any other term than phenomena when trying to view the whole picture - as I am now.

If you want to look at possible future paths for larp, then there are two possible perspectives; The first is a perspective in which larp is viewed as a medium - or, to simplify; (mass) media. This perspective does not consider the contents of various larps, but methods and approaches. Looked at this way, larp becomes a rather interesting medium. While mass-media development over the last 50-60 years has had a distinct and strong technological component, larp is a fairly new media not base upon technological advances, rather something bordering on anti-technologism. Larp is born on the basis of communal work, DIY and learning-while-doing. Visions of different things have been had, and one has tried to realise these with ones own skills, rather than some new gizmo. This attitude towards technology makes larp something quite special, as it is a way of preserving and developing a non-tech or low-tech approach towards play and other activities.

The evolution of larp as a medium has generally followed a path paralleling larpers own skills and knowledge. Some learned how to make latex-swords, some learned how to sew, some found out how to waterproof cotton, and so on. Larpers well schooled in things like communicational theory, history, sociology and theatrical science has joined the fray, and all of them has added something to larps evolution and thus the phenomena now has a multitude of legs to stand on and a flourishing theoretical and practical evolution.

- So where can this medium evolve further?

I believe larp may become more technologically advanced, with enhanced expressions thanks to creative and well-considered use of technological implements. Larp may become the playground for experimentation with light-, sound- and (subsequently) smell-effects that will enhance the things one wants to experience and sense. This will happen in sync with larp being 'discovered' by people who has both the skills and the resources to implement technology in this way.

- Into science?

Furthermore I think the medium may evolve into becoming a tool for various kinds of science, primarily social studies. Larp is currently an evolved form of existing methods within sciences such as psychology, sociology and pedagogic. During the period larp has been through, all this areas has been made aware of the fact that their own relatively simple and abbreviated role-plays may be embellished further with regards to enhanced contents of roles and surroundings. I anticipate larp being used within all this fields (albeit with a slightly different set of terms), as well as socio-anthropology, studies of mass media, psychotherapy, medical research and so on. If today's larp-community is to take part in this and somehow contribute, it is essential to increase our own seriousness so that the world of science can find us worthy of co-operation.

One area of science has already started developing a tradition in which larp is part - at least as method and tool - this is history/archaeology. Both living history and re-enactment are terms that have been given a boost following many larpers engagement in them. In Norway this so far applies mostly to medieval groups, but I think it is just a matter of time before Norwegian larpers open their eyes to other historical epochs both from a Norwegian angle and from more international angles. Larpers has already contributed with a sophisticated level of knowledge combined with a seriousness that has made many professional communities aware of them.

- Commercial evolution?

Commercial evolution of larp is at present the most crooked one in my view. The reason for this is the larp-community's predominantly sceptical attitude towards anything smelling of commercialism but also the lack of successful commercial projects using larp as a medium. The scattered attempts that has been done in order to make money from larp or at least earn a partial living from it has not been purely successful. But I do not think this means it is impossible to exploit the phenomena/medium of larp commercially. It is just a matter of finding a style that makes this possible and finding ways of promoting it that can reach a substantial enough audience. Commercial larp is a matter of financial resources and of co-operation with existing actors within the entertainment business. Larp as a medium for entertainment is in my opinion a part of the medium's future.

- From garage to MTV?

To understand why larp should evolve in both a non-commercial direction and in a more commercially oriented direction this comparison of larp and popular music may help: Today's pop music stands firmly on the shoulders of sub-cultures that has found the way to larger audiences. The path to this 'larger audience' has been through mass production and commercialisation of musical styles such as blues, jazz, rock, punk, soul, hiphop and so on. But all the different styles within popular music have retained a strong and influential component of artistic integrity despite of or because of having commercial 'doubles'. Some might disagree, but I would say that on average most groups and artist that has taken the step from the garage to MTV has retained their artistic quality and 'weight'. Meanwhile the undergrowth of popular music continues to flourish and constantly adds new styles to the medium. Many of today's able and creative larpers will no doubt retain their own qualities should their activity develop a commercial component. Larp having commercial success would in fact contribute to elevating the quality of larp en bloc since it would mean access to resources (meaning: MONEY) that are unavailable today.

- Information, education, school?

Larp as a medium for presenting information may be something closely connected to its commercial evolution or it's evolution as a scientific method. Even so this item may be viewed separately, because we should consider how larp could be used within elementary school and other educational 'spheres'. Elementary schools ARE aware of larp, but there is still much work to be done in developing methods and solutions that can be applied by schools. The larp-community as such do4es have a lot to contribute in this area, as there has been done much theorising on how to use larp as a medium for presenting a message or to tell stories. One of THE most popular 'buzzwords' in modern pedagogic is 'learning by doing' - what better way to learning by doing than through well-considered larps?

Larp as a medium does have a bright future, and it is up to the community itself what direction one wants to move in, and as long as the community preserves its potential in the different areas presented above, I predict a nice future evolution for the medium. The potential that needs caring for is the variation of and exchange of ideas within the communities or 'scenes'.

- From fantasy to multitude.

The other perspective one can apply to examine larps future is considering the various literary or cinematic genres presently represented within larp. Unfortunately (some would say) most larps takes place within a tolkienesque fantasy-tradition. The medieval fantasies dominate the picture, both seen from inside and outside. Larpers have a tendency to think that 'everyone' has read 'Lord of the Rings'. Many HAS read those books or seen the films, but it is wrong to think that the 'Tolkien'-track is the future of larp. Undoubtedly there will still be a group of hardcore tolkienists and gothers that still view this as an almost divine path that has finally been understood by the rest of the world. I think the three mammoth-films that we have just seen is not the breakthrough of fantasy, but rather the culmination of a trend and that from here there is only one possible way; down, unless we do something about it.

Fantasy will still be the backbone of larp for some time, but it needs to be supplied with larps from other ('adventurous'-) genres. There has been scattered attempt at future-larps, at western-larps, at swashbuckling (18th. And 19th Century) larps, ant larps set in antiquity, at '80s-larps and so on. I think we would be wise to preserve and further evolve experiments within these and other genres, because we in this way can make larp a medium for people with other literary or cinematic 'tastes' than just swords & saucery.

- Social criticism, philosophy, art.

There is also a direction within the larp-community that wants to use larp as a medium for artistic expressions with social criticism or philosophy as content. Even if 'mainstream'-larpers like myself may frown upon the antics and activities of these larpers, I still think one should not cut the bonds between 'them and us', not should one give such ambitions a cold shoulder. They add to larp a more liberated and unbound notion of how the medium can be used, and they often conduct the most exciting 'technical' experiment with regards to methods and approaches. We may like or dislike the contents, maybe not even understand it, but there still a lot of interesting and useful things to be learned from larp-'artists'.

- Hindsight

Finally I'd like to take a look backwards, beyond larps meagre beginnings in Norway at the tail end of the '80s, to point out where larp came from. People have always enjoyed getting dressed up and 'acting' to each other. The roots of theatre go back to religious rituals and to the art of storytelling. Gradually theatre-people found that dressing up and acting had a value in itself, and they started acting for each other. At the same time, the bourgeoisie started having 'fancy dress'-parties, whilst the common man celebrated carnivals in the streets. Entering the age of technology, these 'old fashion' expressions of human playfulness survived and evolved. Larp is just the most recent branch on this tree. Another development that led us to where we are today, was the usage of role-playing within sociology and in military contexts. The conjoining of these two elements gave us the 'larps-in-the-woods' that are still alive today. The technological development gave us computers, and these gave us computer games. The desire to experience that which was seen on flickering screens were also part of the foundation upon which larp was developed. The same thing applies for board- and role-playing games partially with military origins; they were a more social variation of the computer games, but often with the same kind of contents.

Thus further development of larp would not be ground breaking new work, but further travel along already beaten paths. The belief in larp as a completely separate and completely autonomously evolved medium is wrong; we are standing on the shoulders of many different kinds of traditions and there is much to be gained from relating to all these traditions.