Alma
Mater

Name: Alma Mater LARP
Address: UA

A larp about a religious community facing the Reformation

It is the year of our Lord, 1536.

The convent of Whitwood Abbey, dedicated to the Nurturing Mother (Alma Mater), has stood on this spot for nearly three hundred years. For you, the religious sisters who dwell within, it provides a protection; a vocation; a routine - and above all a strict Rule of life.

The great mother Church provided well-born ladies, like you, a shelter outside of the cultural norms of marriage and motherhood. In return, you provide spiritual connection by reciting the psalms, and by following the ancient laws of stability and obedience.

From time to time, your obedience would be assessed by visiting Church officials; but your Abbey has never been found wanting.

But times are changing. The King, Henry viii, battled to end his first marriage for years. The dispute between the King and the Church allowed powerful men into the government - men whose goal is Protestant reform. The new Queen has brought this closer.

You are now - whether you will or no - part of a new church, the Church of England.

There is no certainty. There is no stability. There is to be an inspection.

Introduction

Alma Mater is a larp run over 4 days for 16 participants. You will be playing the religious sisters (nuns) of Whitwood Abbey, during the English Reformation, and at the very precipice of the Dissolution of the Monasteries. Attendees may be of any gender, but all available characters are women. All characters are pre-written and assigned based on answers to the booking questionnaire.

Over the larp, the sisters will encounter an inspection by The King's Commissioner, a man who has been sent to assess the spiritual and financial value of the nunnery. He will interview each of the nuns to determine any spiritual fault or poor adherence to the Rule.