Building New Worlds: Fantasy, Identity and Communities at Play

Josiah Lulham is a game ethnographer and theatre maker, currently undergoing his PhD in Anthropology at the University of Melbourne. His thesis centres around communities at play—specifically, Live Action Role Play communities and how they collaboratively build engaging fictional worlds. 

I was eager to speak with Josiah about his perspective on the culture of creating new identities that LARP offers. As someone who has long been captivated by fantasy and warrior culture, I wanted to discuss the transformative effect of what it’s like to become a living, breathing part of immersive, imagined worlds.

Our conversation was nuanced and thoughtful as we explored both the compelling nature of gaming, and also what it’s like to live and play in a post pandemic world. We reflected on the parallels between LARP and the new Covid Normal, and how so many of us are going through transformations in our lives as we reinvent our realities, collectively as a society.