From: KGANDEK@mitvmc.mit.EDU (Kathryn Gandek)
Subject: Pennsic Schtick
Organization: The Internet
Date: Wed, 26 Aug 1992 21:19:25 GMT

>From: Josh Mittleman <mittle@watson.ibm.com>

> (stuff deleted)            What are we trying to re-create?  For 20 years,
>we called it a war, and our ceremonies were designed with that intent.
>  (stuff deleted)
>           There were no scholae or merchants at medieval battlefields.  A
>much better model for what we do is a merchant fair, at which the hosting
>nobility hold a tournament, the Tournament of Pennsic Fair.
>  (stuff deleted)
>            It will certainly change the way we think about the ceremonies.
>This year's opening ceremony was a serious kludge: They took the customary
>ceremony, with its confrontation between kings, and tried to twist it into
>something else. (stuff deleted) If we drop the old schtik, what do we replace
>it with?  Alternatively, could we keep the old schtik as a sort of familiar
>custom, but turn it into a pageant (Catrin, you listening?), so that it
>would be more clearly a staged affair rather than a real confrontation?

Catrin is not only listening, she's drooling :-)  It's such a wonderful
concept!  Some sort of reenaction (how fitting!) of the famous circumstances
of the Pennsic War with the current kings and queens playing the parts of the
kings and queens.  Well, that's one possibility at least.  And pageant wagons!
We could have pageant wagons which we'd store at Coopers and use every year.
(Gad, real storage space for large scenery on site-be still my heart!)  If
acting on pageant wagons is too undignified for royalty, we could have the
pageant go by with performers (from the populace not unlike the miracle plays)
with the populace watching.  (Bet it would be more of a draw than the current
opening ceremonies if we could solve visibility and hearing problems.  Perhaps
a progression of the wagons through the streets.)  Then the heralds (perhaps
dressed as famous heralds of yore, perhaps not) and the royalty (possibly
representing royalty of days of yore or not) could do their stuff, in effect
reenacting the final scene of the pageant not on a wagon but in the
traditional place on the field.  (Pageant wagon scenes could include parts of
the now legendary Cariadoc and the arrow story.)

Gad, taking our own SCA history and putting it into a period setting.  It would
sing with grandeur, maybe a little buffoonery and sentiment!

Yeah, maybe I have a couple of ideas on how the ceremony could be made to work
for a Fair :-)

>The more I think about it, the more I like that idea: Call the War settled,
>and establish a Fair to commemorate the lasting peace.  Use a pageant based
>on the War ceremonies to recall ancient glories, without introducing new
>rancor.

The timing for making the change is good.  Twenty years of war, followed by
the fair which celebrates this glorious part of the history of the SCA.  For
truly Pennsic is one of the glorious parts!

Okay, I'm excited now.  After swearing I had no idea what I could do bigger
than running the mumming I ran for the royalty dinner at Pennsic (demons,
cardinals, pope, emperor, knights, squires, music, dancing, sedan chairs, etc.)
I've just found it!  Shudder.  And I just promised I'd not volunteer for doing
something that complicated at Pennsic again!  Who cares, this would be a blast!

If anyone knows the to-be-determined royals who will be ruling next Pennsic and
they're interested in a Fair, you can mention you know someone who does
pageantry ;-)

Catrin o'r Rhyd For      Kathryn Gandek
Barony of Carolingia     Boston area
East Kingdom             kgandek@mitvmc.mit.edu