Medieval Festival
On Saturday I went to the OSU Medieval and Renaissance Festival, arriving at 11:30 and staying until 6:00. This Festival has always held a special place in my heart since I started attending it at age 10.
This year the festival also provided me with my first paycheck since I quit my job last May. I'm not sure if I earned it though. For those of you who attended, I was listed as "The Storyteller" in the program. My set was comprised of "Kemp Owyne," "The Scholar Who Fell Into the Water," "The Pirate Alvild," and "The Legend of Finn M'Cool vs. Cucullin." My first performance went well. I could tell that the mother and two children who comprised the entire audience really enjoyed my stories. My second performance was a bit more...complicated. You see, shortly before I was due to perform at Minstrel's Circle, it started to rain - hard. Minstrel's Circle was this lovely brick circle in the middle of one of the paths, where the performer and audience could be bathed in the warmth of the sun, or the rain, or whatever else the sky decided it wanted to throw down. Fortunately, I realized that the Pub, a pavilion set up a few yards away, had no performances scheduled for that time, so I asked for and received permission to perform there instead. As it turns out, I wasn't the only one who had come to the conclusion "roof = dry." The Pub was packed; alas, as it turns out, they were not all there to hear my performance. I quickly discovered that I did not yet have my outdoor projecting voice, as the various knots of people talking amongst themselves kept talking amongst themselves. There were some people scattered among my rightful audience who were actually listening to the stories, but I'm not sure how much they got out of it. Things didn't really pick up until my last story, when I drew members of the audience up to act it out. (Thank you, wishesofastar.) So the second performance turned out to be one of those "learning experiences" performers sometimes must, well, experience.
All in all, though, it was a fun day. I got to dance the maypole and see several cool performances. Because of the rain, I bought a new (and very inexpensive) cloak with a hood which was perfect for the weather. I ran into people I knew, such as wishesofastar and oknight and a really nice couple I knew from Marcon, got the story of what really happened to Salem West from AJ and found out that he's happy being a full-time festival vendor, and arranging to get pizza with braider after the festival.
My performance aside, the rain also made the day entertaining. It did thin the crowds, leaving only the die-hards like me. Four rennies took to carrying a camping dining fly from sheltered performance site to site, announcing "Your carriage has arrived," and transporting attendees around the faire in relative dryness.
And of course those of us who were not scared off by the rain had to stay to see the Chessboard at 5:30. There was a pretty decent crowd for that.
All in all, a lovely way to celebrate May Day.
This year the festival also provided me with my first paycheck since I quit my job last May. I'm not sure if I earned it though. For those of you who attended, I was listed as "The Storyteller" in the program. My set was comprised of "Kemp Owyne," "The Scholar Who Fell Into the Water," "The Pirate Alvild," and "The Legend of Finn M'Cool vs. Cucullin." My first performance went well. I could tell that the mother and two children who comprised the entire audience really enjoyed my stories. My second performance was a bit more...complicated. You see, shortly before I was due to perform at Minstrel's Circle, it started to rain - hard. Minstrel's Circle was this lovely brick circle in the middle of one of the paths, where the performer and audience could be bathed in the warmth of the sun, or the rain, or whatever else the sky decided it wanted to throw down. Fortunately, I realized that the Pub, a pavilion set up a few yards away, had no performances scheduled for that time, so I asked for and received permission to perform there instead. As it turns out, I wasn't the only one who had come to the conclusion "roof = dry." The Pub was packed; alas, as it turns out, they were not all there to hear my performance. I quickly discovered that I did not yet have my outdoor projecting voice, as the various knots of people talking amongst themselves kept talking amongst themselves. There were some people scattered among my rightful audience who were actually listening to the stories, but I'm not sure how much they got out of it. Things didn't really pick up until my last story, when I drew members of the audience up to act it out. (Thank you, wishesofastar.) So the second performance turned out to be one of those "learning experiences" performers sometimes must, well, experience.
All in all, though, it was a fun day. I got to dance the maypole and see several cool performances. Because of the rain, I bought a new (and very inexpensive) cloak with a hood which was perfect for the weather. I ran into people I knew, such as wishesofastar and oknight and a really nice couple I knew from Marcon, got the story of what really happened to Salem West from AJ and found out that he's happy being a full-time festival vendor, and arranging to get pizza with braider after the festival.
My performance aside, the rain also made the day entertaining. It did thin the crowds, leaving only the die-hards like me. Four rennies took to carrying a camping dining fly from sheltered performance site to site, announcing "Your carriage has arrived," and transporting attendees around the faire in relative dryness.
And of course those of us who were not scared off by the rain had to stay to see the Chessboard at 5:30. There was a pretty decent crowd for that.
All in all, a lovely way to celebrate May Day.