A comedy larp about
the origins of female wrestling
in 1980

Inspired by Glow, a Netflix tv series. The larp is set in the United States in 1980, at the very beginning of production for the first women’s wrestling television show in history. The casting process is over and the performers have already earned a place in the project, but almost everything else is still uncertain.

Until now, wrestling has been understood mostly as a men’s world: a space of masculine strength, aggression, spectacle, and theatrical violence. This production is trying to do something almost unheard of: build an entire television program around women as fighters and stars of the show.

It is not only the story of the women in the ring. It is also the story of the people building the show around them: the staff trying to turn chaos into television, the trainers making sure spectacle looks dangerous but remains survivable, the producers risking money and reputation, and the TV executives deciding what kind of women can be sold to an audience.

Around them, the country is also changing. In 1980, feminism in the United States is facing both momentum and backlash. Women are fighting for workplace equality, legal independence, reproductive rights, representation, and the right to define their lives beyond marriage and motherhood, while conservative voices are gaining power and defending traditional family values.

The wrestlers are the heart of the show. This group has 16 playable characters, all of them women, although players of any gender may play them. We would be happy to have cis male players playing a female wrestler – please do!
Many of the characters are not wrestlers by trade. They are actresses trying to get any job that will keep them close to the industry. For some, this is a strange acting gig, maybe even an embarrassing one. For others, it is the first real opportunity they have had in months.
They are stepping into a space that was not built for them. Wrestling has been treated as a masculine world, and their presence in the ring can be read as a challenge to that order, as they are women taking up space. But at the same time, the people in charge are men… As usual.

The trainers are responsible for turning raw chaos into something that can survive the camera. Some examples are the acting coach, physical trainer, and singing trainers. During the larp, they will work with the wrestlers to shape their performances, push their bodies, refine their stage presence, build confidence, and prepare them for the show.

Their job is not neutral. They are also part of a production machine that needs results quickly. They are not the stars of the show, but they may be the people who decide who is ready to become one.

The crew are the people who make the show possible before anyone at home ever sees it. This group includes agents, writers, stylists, the director, janitors, commentators, camera operators, sound crew, or photographers. During the larp, they will shape the production from behind the scenes, They can turn  chaos into something that can be filmed, sold, and remembered.

Their work often happens around the spotlight, not inside it, but that does not mean they lack power. They are also part of the industry that sells the show.

The directives are the people deciding whether this unlikely show gets to exist. This group includes the producers, who are risking money and reputation on the project; the network director, who decides whether the show can fit on television; and the wrestling federation, which controls access to a male dominated world that may not want women at its center.

During the larp, they will negotiate what the show can be, what it must avoid, and how far it is allowed to go.

They are watching women enter a world that was never meant for them, and they must decide whether that is a revolution, a novelty, a threat, or simply good television.