THEATER LIVE-ACTION ROLE PLAY COMES TO WESTCHESTER: The Dance and the Dawn to run Sat., May 2 in Pleasantville

THEATER LIVE-ACTION ROLE PLAY COMES TO WESTCHESTER

The Dance and the Dawn to run Sat., May 2 in Pleasantville

For the first time, a theatrical experience game -- a bit of theater-style live-action roleplay (LARP) -- is coming to Westchester.

Briarcliff native Warren Tusk, a theatrical experience game designer, will run his popular game, The Dance and the Dawn, a gothic fairy tale for 15 players who waltz and duel while in a search for true love, on Sat., May 2, from 6-11 PM, at ARC Stages, 175 Tompkins Ave., Pleasantville. To register to participate, visit his website, http://www.paracelsus-games.com. Cost is $25 (students, $15) for the evening.

There are boffer-style (physical combat) groups at Sarah Lawrence College and scattered throughout the county, but no groups running theatrical LARPS.

Dance, which was funded by a Kickstarter campaign, has been played at The Brick Theatre in Williamsburg, and dozens of times around the world.

Participants will fill out a brief casting survey to be fit to the best role for them. There are 7 female and 6 male parts available.

“I’m excited to help people live out their own theatrical narratives through this fun and social medium,” said Tusk. “Dance is the kind of game that makes it easy for new players to get swept up in the action; it’s introduced many to the hobby.”

Theatrical experience games generally feature a story with pre-written characters, each with their own personality, motivations and goals, but no script. Participants interact with each other while improvisationally playing their characters, choosing their own actions and dialogue. Similar to murder mystery games, a LARP can vary in length from less than an hour to a weekend or longer.

He also offers a private event service for those hoping to feature one of his games at a celebration or simply to engineer a memorable evening in the NY metro area.

Introduced to LARPing while an undergraduate at Harvard, Warren happily combined his interests in theater and gaming. He’s been writing and designing theatrical experiences for over nine years and has 14 to his credit.