The lesbian tangle

By: Samuel Sjöberg

Historical – Court case – Relationships
Scenario format: Larp
Duration: 4 hours
Number of players: 5

In 1943, police were called to an apartment in Stockholm to investigate an apartment fight. When they entered the apartment, they found two women sleeping close to each other on a couch. The story that unfolded after that was a multifaceted tale of love and jealousy, where five women had been involved with each other in different constellations since the 1930s. This event went down in history as “the lesbian tangle”, and it is one of few cases in Swedish history where female homosexuality has been prosecuted.

This is a larp about these women. About love, jealousy and what happens when everything comes to a head because someone finally calls the police.

The larp consists of alot of short scenes that span over almost ten years, from that they first start seeing each other in the 30s to when the verdict is declared in 1943.

Contents: Intimacy, physical closeness with other players, meta techniques to simulate kissing and making out, internalised and institutionalised homophobia, unclear relationship agreements, jealousy, betrayal, aggressivity, intoxication (simulated only, no actual alcohol in play), fear of violence from a partner (but no actual abuse), game mastered steering, illness.

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About the author
Samuel Sjöberg is a larper and larp designer from Stockholm. He has previously run his scenario Trans dysphoria blues at Stockholm scenario festival and held lectures about queer history at events like KP/Solmukohta and the Swedish larp convention Prolog. In his every day life he is studying a master’s degree programme in history at Stockholm university.