New Orleans Purchase LARP

Earlier this year, I led a LARP (Live Action Role Play) as part of a walkshop with The Walk Discourse, and organization based in San Fransisco and New Orleans, that organizes walking exhibitions. Thanks to Astrid Kaemmerling for curating the event.

I tried to make it in a way that we were walking indoors for as much as possible over the course of multiple miles. We went through the catacombs of various malls, ports, and convention centers to tour the city from the inside out.

We had some really great participants that made the experience really memorable. It’s crazy today to think that all of us were packed into an elevator like that! I think it went pretty well and I’m considering how I could apply the practice to a social-distancing era…

The premise:

Facing bankruptcy and environmental disaster, the United States has sold the city of New Orleans to a foreign private investor group. The sale was executed in private without knowledge of the general public. This walk will be the investors' first experience setting foot in New Orleans after the purchase, and we have no prior understanding of the culture or history of the city. We will discuss our initial impressions of the existing city and ideas to develop or dismantle existing institutions to get the highest return on our investment.