http://www.sarahlynnebowman.com

Styles of Play: Freeform larp, Larp

Symbiosis explores the quest to learn healthier coping and communication skills in relationships. The characters are adolescents from an alien species on the planet Saturn who subsist on stardust. As a group, they learn to identify Parasitic communication patterns and develop Symbiotic traits.

Tags: relationships, communication, dynamics, adolescence

Symbiosis explores the quest to learn healthier coping and communication skills in relationships. In this live action role-playing (larp) experience, we will use character embodiment within a fictional setting to evoke the energetic dynamics underpinning relationship conflicts. The character interactions in Symbiosis draw inspiration from principles in counseling, including attachment theory, Gestalt therapy, and transactional analysis. This enactment work will help us use metaphoric language to practice relationship skills in an embodied, somatic way. We will then process our experiences together, sharing our reflections on our own behavioral tendencies in relationships.

The characters in Symbiosis are an alien species on the planet Saturn who subsist on stardust. In this larp, a group of Saturnite adolescents are sequestered at a retreat. Their work is guided by the Gardener, a fully adult Symbiote, who facilitates their development through a series of structured exercises. In adolescence, Saturnites are Parasitic -- meaning that in order to acquire stardust, they can only extract it from their loved ones through dysfunctional strategies. As they mature, this species learns Symbiotic traits, which allow them to create new stardust together through mutual exchange and interdependency. Symbiosis enacts the journey of struggle and transformation that can occur within the alchemical container of relationships, with the ultimate goal of practicing how to attune more harmoniously with others.