The Circus of Wonders and Shadows

RPG system: LARP
Participants: 12 players

Organized by

Peaky Games

By

Mythic Consequences (2019), Naish Holiday Village, Christchurch, Dorset, United Kingdom

	Clare Gardner
	Abi Kirby
	Charlie Paull
	Rich Perry

The Smoke (2022), Theatre Delicatessen, London, United Kingdom

	Ben Allen
	Nickey Barnard

Continuum (2022), John Foster Hall at the University of Leicester. Oadby, Leicester, United Kingdom

	Nickey Barnard
	Charlie Paull

Description

It is 1930, post-show in the tents of the Circus of Wonders and Shadows. The public have all gone home, only those that make their living from the sawdust and the spangles remain. The Circus is set up outside yet another dirtball town somewhere in midwest America, but the Great Depression is beginning to tighten and the audiences are not what they once were.

The circus folk are uneasy in the face of an uncertain future. The fairy tales told by those from the Old Country, tales of blood and sacrifice, are beginning to take root in people’s minds. The wind that whips between the guy ropes is beginning to taste of dust and ashes.

What can a few outcasts and outsiders desperate to keep the magic alive do in the face of an uncaring world? The Circus of Wonders and Shadows is a game of dark fantasy and deception in a world that sits on that uneasy edge between magic and reality.

NB: We might ask players to wear make-up we provide – I would want to check for allergies etc.

Content Warnings: This game has dark themes in the backgrounds of characters including murder, stalking, the eating of human flesh, mutilation and the corruption of the soul.

Warning: Clowns!

Most of this is only in the background, but players may be expected to sacrifice something that might be important to them – e.g. a beautiful dancer may have to give up that beauty etc. Imaginary bodies may have to be moved during the game.

Played at