External vs Internal roleplaying

Community Larp discussion
#1

I found a couple of interesting articles from a living history blog here:

https://kittycalash.com/2017/02/15/exteriorizing-or-showing-the-past-part-i/
https://kittycalash.com/2017/02/16/exteriorizing-or-showing-the-past-part-ii/

The author discusses, in a living history context, whether it is better to go for a more realistic subtle performance (e.g. a woman freezing with fear when she is about to be abducted), versus a more theatrical portrayal that makes it clearer to the audience what is happening.

I was wondering where LARP falls on this spectrum. While we don’t have an audience like living historians, there are still the other players to consider. A really subtle performance might leave the other players unaware of/confused by your characters actions until the post-game debrief. On the other hand, some people may prefer the more internal style of roleplaying.

What are people’s thoughts? To what extent is it good to signal your character’s inner thoughts and feelings to other players, even if it might not be completely realistic? (Obviously the game genre may affect this somewhat)

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#2

I tend to let the personality of the character decide, followed by who can see me at any given moment.

To me, LARP is more about communication than performance. So I’ll try to get the point across in a way that is as in-character as possible, and as “loud” as needed.

Does that make sense?

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