Last Will
Last Will was a larp run twice in Stockholm, Sweden. First run took place 15 - 17th August of 2014 and the second round 1 - 4th of January 2015. The larp was produced through the non-profit organization Ursula, and written by Annica Strand, Frida Gamero and Sofia Stenler.
Setting and Themes
Last Will is a larp on the fading human dignity in a world run by money and consumption in which people can be bought and sold as commodities. The larp is set in a future where debt and poverty breeds slavery and slavery perpetuate the poverty. Last Will revolves around hope in a hopeless situation where the desire to create a future battle with constant fighting against fear and hunger. In a time when freedom every day is weighed against security and survival the question echoes – What is my value?
We wanted to create this larp to look at modern slavery through the lens of a fictional future. We can not claim to give a true portrait of a sweatshop in China or a mine in Africa, but by taking bits and pieces from different places and putting them together in Jericho, we can give our participants a feel for what life is like when agency has been taken from you, and what it does to you when you feel that you have no value. And what it makes you do to other people. We hope that experiencing something with your whole body will make you take something home from it.
Background
The story was set in a dystopian near-future, in the gladiator-stable Jericho in underground Stockholm, with six fighter-teams as well as an administrative staff running it all. The larp depicts some twenty hours in Jericho. The trainers and the coach prepare the fighters for gladiator fights, the doctor and psychiatrist evaluate the fighters and other team members, the pleasers perform their duties towards the fighters, as do the physiotherapists while the guards make sure everyone does what they should do and only the right people slips in the showers.
All the while lives and relationships go on. Some of the people in Jericho are free workers, having contracts that allow them a salary and a little more freedom but also the risk of being let off with no further notice. Others have signed a life contract, which gives them the security of food and a roof over their heads, but no say on almost everything else. It is the day before the national election to parliament, but only the free workers needs to decide if they should take the risk to sign up to vote or not. The lifers need not worry; they no longer have the right to vote.
Production crew
Written and produced by Annica Strand, Frida Gamero and Sofia Stenler through the non-profit organization Ursula.
Helper in first run: Frida Karlsson-Lindgren and Siri Sandquist, helpers in second run: Staffan Fladvad and Eva Wei.
Statistics
43 participants in the first run, 44 in the second run.
22 male and 21 female in the first run (2014)
19 male and 25 female in the second run (2015)
Mean value in response to the question: If you would rate the overall experience from 1 to 10 on the scale below, where would Last Will fall?
1st run: 7.22 (24 respondants)
2nd run: 9.18 (22 respondants)
Techniques
Pre-written characters
Pre-larp workshop
Flying start
Fate
Ars Ordo
Ars Amandi
Safewords
Meta room
Debriefing
Debriefing Buddy
Documentation
Trailer
Trailer on Vimeo [1]
Photo Documentation
Larp Manuscript:
Blogposts/articles about Last Will:
Review in Spelkult by Johan Röklander & Kristin Nilsdotter [4]
Review by Peter Munthe-Kaas [5]
Review by Muriel Algayres [6]
Review by Eliot Wieslander [7]