[Nordskogen] Caponi Medieval Faire - Looking Forward

[Chris Mortika]

Regarding the comments that have appeared here about the demo, and what we
did well, and what we could have done better:

* Better use of the space would be a good idea.  For next year, I'm
going to see what we can do about getting a map of the space we've been
using. We might think about positioning things in the area as a
walk-through.

* Along those lines, we should have a couple of people assigned as
"guides," ushering our visitors around and acting as interface.


There are dfferent reasons for doing demos, which include:
   * Teaching people about the middle ages or renaissance
   * Teaching people about the SCA
   * Recruiting

The Caponis advertised this weekend as their "Medieval Faire," and
described our part in this as "hands-on arts and crafts."  We should
decide how we can fit ourselves and our interests into that.

Several people have suggested that we could present, for lack of a better
term, tableaus, like "Giovanna's encampment", or "a scriptorium", and so
on, where some of us can stay "in persona" and show, explain, or teach the
particular crafts to folks, in as realistic a setting as we can provide.

We could do this.

But there will be difficulties.  That kind of "living history" experience
plays into one of the weaknesses of the Society's "big tent" philosophy.

We should decide: do we want
  * a scriptorium that demonstrates how the Society for Creative
Anachronism does calligraphy (a 12th-Century anglo-saxon woman, an
Elizabethan lord, a mongol, and a 10th-Century norse woman all practicing
gothic blackletter and half-uncial hands on award documents that look
like illuminated pages from a book of hours); or
  * the best simulation we can make of, say, a 15th Century English
monastic scriptorium? All men, all in the robes of monks who've taken
simple orders, all copying appropriate texts in appropriate hands.


People have suggested ways to make tournament fighting more popular for
audiences.  I think that's a fruitful topic, but I'd ask people to avoid
thinking in terms of "the one right way to fight at demos".  We might try
to get people cheering for one fighter or another, or there might be other
ways to present fighting.

What's the best way to showcase heavy fighting or fencing, if we're trying
to present hands-on demonstrations of the arts and crafts of the middle
ages?


At dinner on Saturday, I said that I thought we could have done better if
we present more of the middle ages, and less of the SCA.  Now, I think I
might have been wrong.

How do you people see this? Would we be playing to our strengths if we
  * tell the Caponis we're presenting the SCA, a modern organization
that researches pre 17th-Century life, showing the best of what we do
and teaching our activities to anyone who'd like to come; or
  * do our best to present a realistic depiction of a medieval faire,
showcasing the arts and crafts in appropriate settings?

Is there a middle ground?

--Christian