Ren Fest first weekend
Aug. 25th, 2003 11:51 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
javasaurusGreat first weekend. The weather was great (hot but not too hot, sunny blue skies, humidity was not real high), and though there were some problems with some of the shows, we made it through fairly well. Usually on the first weekend, I get lots of butterflies in my tummy, but not this year. For the first time, I felt like I was able to deal with what was thrown at me.
We got to do a bit of ad-lib at the jousts -- the scripts we were given did not match what the jousters were doning (oops!) but we just went with it. No major train wrecks at any of the other shows. Had much fun greeting patrons, pointing them in the right direction to the privies, and interacting with other actors for the entertainment of the patrons.
Some storyline: This year I am the mayor, and have driven myself heavily into debt with my drinking and gambling. I owe everybody money, especially a pirate captain and my brother-in-law. To clear a large part of my debt, I have agreed to marry of my ward (who comes with a sizable dowery) to my brother-in-law. She is not so hot on the marriage, and one of her best bits is asking patrons whether marriage should be about love or money. A surprising number of them say money, perhaps half. Meanwhile, I get to fend off nearly every villager I meet, all of whom want to be repaid, now! It's a lot of fun.
As a bit of distraction, I get to do "love-letter-writing" with the Marchioness of Exeter. Though I'm sure that what I'm doing is not what's expected, it gets a good reaction and is a bit of fun. I have been working with kids, mostly. I wrote a poem for some children waiting in line to ride the ponies (using ideas from them about what they liked about ponies), and another which helped prompt some to eat their lunch (tell me what you like about sausage--take another bite for inspiration). In one, I approached two women, referring to one as the innocent one, the other as devilish, and asked them to help me compose a letter to my beloved. I asked them to provide alternating ideas, one nice, one devilish, etc. My favorite was two young kids, brother and sister. I asked them to provide ideas for a poem by telling me what they liked about each other. It was like pulling teeth to get the boy to admit anything, but the girl was very forthcoming. Very different, boys and girls. It was fairly clear that they got along well, the boy just didn't want to admit it. I think the parent were very amused.
Last year, I lost my voice almost every day. This year, I have fewer lines, and I'm seeing a voice therapist, and I made it through the first weekend with my voice intact. A little sore, but intact. Wheee!
We got to do a bit of ad-lib at the jousts -- the scripts we were given did not match what the jousters were doning (oops!) but we just went with it. No major train wrecks at any of the other shows. Had much fun greeting patrons, pointing them in the right direction to the privies, and interacting with other actors for the entertainment of the patrons.
Some storyline: This year I am the mayor, and have driven myself heavily into debt with my drinking and gambling. I owe everybody money, especially a pirate captain and my brother-in-law. To clear a large part of my debt, I have agreed to marry of my ward (who comes with a sizable dowery) to my brother-in-law. She is not so hot on the marriage, and one of her best bits is asking patrons whether marriage should be about love or money. A surprising number of them say money, perhaps half. Meanwhile, I get to fend off nearly every villager I meet, all of whom want to be repaid, now! It's a lot of fun.
As a bit of distraction, I get to do "love-letter-writing" with the Marchioness of Exeter. Though I'm sure that what I'm doing is not what's expected, it gets a good reaction and is a bit of fun. I have been working with kids, mostly. I wrote a poem for some children waiting in line to ride the ponies (using ideas from them about what they liked about ponies), and another which helped prompt some to eat their lunch (tell me what you like about sausage--take another bite for inspiration). In one, I approached two women, referring to one as the innocent one, the other as devilish, and asked them to help me compose a letter to my beloved. I asked them to provide alternating ideas, one nice, one devilish, etc. My favorite was two young kids, brother and sister. I asked them to provide ideas for a poem by telling me what they liked about each other. It was like pulling teeth to get the boy to admit anything, but the girl was very forthcoming. Very different, boys and girls. It was fairly clear that they got along well, the boy just didn't want to admit it. I think the parent were very amused.
Last year, I lost my voice almost every day. This year, I have fewer lines, and I'm seeing a voice therapist, and I made it through the first weekend with my voice intact. A little sore, but intact. Wheee!
