Larps, or live action roleplaying games, are participatory events, something between street games and interactive theatre. This summer, citizens of seven Baltic Sea coastal cities take on the roles of activists, politicians, lobbyists, journalists, and scientists in larps, to explore what's keeping us from saving the sea.

Between May and September, Baltic Warriors will run seven public events in Tallinn, Gdansk, St Petersburg, Kiel, Copenhagen, Stockholm and Helsinki. The larps aim to examine the powers that are active in environmental politics and inspire new ways of thinking.

The Baltic Sea is one of the most polluted seas in the world, suffering from large 'dead zones' without oxygen. These dead zones are mainly caused by an excess of nutrients that have leaked in the water, also known as eutrophication. Although the sea is surrounded by nine developed countries, efforts to save it have proved to be insufficient.

Since eutrophication and the dead zones are distant and invisible to people, they are symbolized in the larp story by mysterious 'zombie vikings', rising from the sea bottom to attack the cities. "These long dead sailors will force the characters to cooperate, something sadly lacking in real life", explains producer Sarita Sharma.

Baltic Warriors mirrors reality in a playful way and offers the unique opportunity to fight for the Baltic Sea together with actors of real life environmental politics. After each game, a panel discussion will be held to share experiences and new insights. 

The larps and debates are part of the larger Baltic Warriors transmedia project, which is produced by production company Kinomaton Berlin in collaboration with the Goethe-Institut e.V. An online game and a documentary film by Estonian director Jaak Kilmi are scheduled for 2016-2017.

Contact information: 
Harmke Heezen
contact@balticwarriors.net 
+ 49 (0) 152 515 67 212

TOUR DATES

9th of May - Ice Breaker Suur Tõll, Tallinn, Estonia
6th of June - Cultural Space Taiga, St Petersburg, Russia
22nd of June - Beach Theatre, Sopot, Poland
11th of July - Kunsthalle zu Kiel, Germany
8th of August - Copenhagen, Denmark
22nd of August - Stockholm, Sweden
12th of September - Helsinki, Finland

Credits: Christian Gogolin/ Goethe-Institut Estonia.