Behind the Curtain is a nontransparent Nordic larp for 5-10 players depicting companions and led by a game master (GM) playing an active NPC (the Madam). The GM keeps time, manages the conversation by removing players from the game space at their will, and provides additional information throughout the course of the game. The game lasts around five hours including workshops and preparation and plays exclusively in the shared space. When players are removed to e.g. meet with off-game clients, they wait quietly in a separate space (adjoining room or hallway).

Gameplay itself takes approximately three hours covering the Madam’s last shift and culminating in them announcing what they will do with the Gilded Lily. Those three hours represent much longer in-game time: the shift seems endless and dates are typically 30-60 minutes (although they take only 5 minutes of real time). There are no predefined acts breaking up the time: instead players are pulled out of the conversation per the GM’s whim.

As a player, you are in complete control of what happens behind closed doors with your clients, although some of them will reveal fetishes or behave badly once in the private room. Private rooms also have a safety measure for the companions: a button that locks the door and alerts the bodyguard, a reliable figure who will definitely tell the Madam everything. Using this measure may result in the client being blacklisted and permanently banned from the Lily, but this is at the Madam’s discretion (and the Madam may not be very happy about it and decide to take out her frustration on the companions). Additionally, the use of condoms is mandatory for penetrative sex, but some companions may be tempted not to use them in exchange for a large tip. But watch out! The Madam would be very unhappy if they find out, and there may be serious consequences.

The game is explicitly about the hidden spaces around sex work, the part that nobody sees because clients and loved ones and the public are so fascinated by the parts they deem (positively or negatively) exciting. Here there are no puritan “how could you”s, no unnatural seduction, no traditional judgment. Here, your characters can be their real selves: they don’t have to put on their public sex kitten or shame faces if they don’t want to, they don’t have to hide how they feel about the clients, only how they feel about their lives, wishes, dreams, and fears the same as anybody else. In this space, your characters will commiserate with one another on bad days and celebrate the good ones; this is a space for birthday cakes and feuds, for sharing and jealousy, for confessions and secrets in equal measure.

Costumes

As a chamber larp, costumes may not be a practical option. If planned in advance however, the following is recommended.

Each character has their own style and that is partly represented by their costume. When deciding what to wear, you can be as creative as you want to be: does your character wear a lot of latex, leather, and interesting straps, or frilly, feminine lingerie? Are they campy or vampy? Do they keep their look simple or do they have a full face of dramatic drag-style makeup? While you should not simply strut around completely naked, you can design your look to fit your character.

Keep in mind that you will play your characters in the relaxed back room spaces of the Lily, and this can also be represented in your outfit: bathrobes or kimonos tied over skimpy lingerie, loose cardigans and jackets pulled over corsets, and the like are also excellent options, especially if you don’t feel comfortable appearing in something more risqué.