Call for Papers 

Special Issue of TDR: The Drama Review 

LARP and Performance Studies

300-word Proposals due 1 April 2025 

For decades, Live Action Role-Playing (LARP) has developed as its own area of research and scholarship; however, theatre and performance studies scholars have not fully addressed LARP. TDR: The Drama Review invites submissions for a special issue on LARP.

LARP challenges traditional definitions of theatre by collapsing the distinction between actors and audiences. LARP has been discussed by game theory and cultural studies scholars, but not yet by performance studies scholars. This special issue of TDR aims to address this lack. What can performance studies scholars offer LARP?

Possible topics include, but are not limited to:

• Collaboration, interactivity, and community: What are the relational dynamics among players, facilitators, and constructed narratives?
• Global LARP Cultures / Global LARP studies: LARP is global; how can performance studies engage in comparative study of LARP traditions across cultural and geopolitical boundaries?
• LARP and Applied Performance: LARP is commonly used in pedagogy and therapy. Where are the most useful points of contact between applied performance and these uses of LARP?
• Play: LARP is "role play," but what kind of play is that? Deep play? Dark play? Where are the boundaries between real and unreal? How does consent operate in LARP?
• LARP and Liveness, LARP and the Virtual: How does LARP operate in virtual and augmented realities? How has LARP gone digital?
• LARP and the Anthropocene: Is LARP important to ecological concerns, speculative futures, and alternative realities?

Submission Guidelines:

Authors of accepted proposals will be asked to send their finished articles for consideration. Submit articles in accordance with TDR’s Guidelines. For more information visit https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/the-drama-review/information/author-instructions/preparing-your-materials 

Important Dates:

• 300-word proposals due: 1 April 2025
• Notification of Proposal Acceptance: 1 May 2025
• Full Manuscript Submissions Due: 1 September 2025
• Notification of Submission Acceptance: 1 October 2025
• Publication Date: 2026

Please submit 300-word proposals and a short bio to tdr@nyu.edu with “LARP SPECIAL ISSUE” in the subject line no later than 1 April 2025. Feel free to email tdr@nyu.edu with any questions before proposal deadline.