| This work is the product of a six-year ethnographic study of a live-action role playing (LARP) community organized around the Intercon theater-style LARP convention. The work explores LARP as a practice, formed by this community. Though the practice evolves over time, this work shows some of the common structures evident in LARP practice considered good by the Intercon LARP community. The analysis of this ethnographic work shows commonalities with other forms of role play, including the history of social simulations used in formal and informal learning environments, theater, reenactment communities, and various role playing games. In addition to description and historical context, this work explores some of the structures evident in this community's LARP practice that set this practice apart as a significant form of participant production and collaborative storytelling. The work explores some of the constraints and affordances of designing, and co-designing, within this highly collaborative environment in ways that facilitate engagement with a variety of LARP participants. This exploration identifies the structure of LARP, in the abstract, as a combination of character, world, and theme, each of which are composed of story, environment, rules, and play. In this structure, play has an operational role in instantiating the other elements within LARP, turning written material, costuming, set design, and other forms of preparatory activity into reality through performance. Finally, this work explores the potential for LARP use as a tool for developing empathy, critical ethical reasoning, and various forms of content learning and technical competencies. |
