Sunday, August 9, 2020

Star Guard Academy: Digital LARP camp for kids starts August 17!

 A friend of mine sent this over, and it looks awesome!  

It's a LARP Camp that is played online (digitally) and has counselors acting as NPC's and moderators.

In case you don't know what a larp is, 
it stands for live action role-playing game.  The players (or campers!) physically portray their characters and pursue goals within a fictional setting represented while interacting with each other in character. It's kind of like a moderated form of make-believe with rules, or Dungeons and Dragons without rolling dice. 

The Players unlock plot, interact with camp counselors who act as different characters in the narrative, and work together to defend the galaxy.

We just enrolled my son in this camp.  Tickets are on sale through tomorrow if you are interested in enrolling your child.

Along the way I found out about the Other Worlds Theatre company, and I have to say, I have no idea why I didn't know about them before.  They seem 100% up my alley, and fairly close to my house.  


Otherworld Theatre Company was founded in June 2012 with the mission to bring a theatrical experience to the science fiction and fantasy genre. Their work celebrates the depth of human imagination by engaging our spectators with high quality storytelling. 

They have a number of shows and events that seem fantastic, in addition to the summer camp.  They have LARPs for adults (which are usually played in person, and with COVID, it's possible that those will be played online as well)- as well as (during non-COVID times) plays, events, colloquys, and all other sorts of mashups of theatre and science fiction.  It sounds like great fun, and I definitely want to keep these guys on my radar!

Their first full length production (which is available on Youtube for free until August 14) is a show called Of Dice and Men.  It's a play about gamers and Dungeons and Dragons, and during the show the game comes to life.  

Here's the synopsis (please note that it is suggested 14+ because of strong language throughout. Viewer discretion is advised.)



SYNOPSIS:
Few dungeon masters can make the game come to life better than John Francis. Dwarves, Mages and Barbarians jump right off of their character sheets whenever he sits down at the gaming table of frisky suburbanite parents, Linda and Brandon. John Francis’ best friends, sailor-mouthed John Alex and thoughtful jock Jason, bring roguish swagger and knightly nobility to the game. And the object of John Francis’ affection, the feisty Tara, provides all the Half Elven Double Princess backstory they could ever need. 

But when Jason enlists to go to Iraq and with the relationship with Tara going nowhere, it may be time for John Francis to hang up his twenty sided dice and take a job on the other side of the country. However, John Francis is about to discover that leaving will prove tougher than the Tomb of Horrors. A blisteringly funny and heartwarming comedy about gamers, for a general theatre audience.

Here's the video (which may or may not disappear after August 14)


You can find out more about Other World Theatre Company on their website https://www.otherworldtheatre.org/ and on their Youtube Channel:https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCsmsppAgXfNCZm8ZjRaz0uQ

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