Calling all Languish historical re-enactors!

[Barrister]

Okay, so I know Brazen does her ECW thing, and Caliga did his Roman re-enacting - is there anyone else out there I'm missing?


I'll start with the backstory - my kid Timmy has a friend from pre-school and they've had several play dates.  As a result we've gotten to know his friend's parents, and are starting to be friends of ours.  The kid's mom has a major Jane Austen mania going, and decided to organize a Jane Austen-themed Regency Ball.

My wife (somewhat to my surprise) was very excited at this idea and signed us up to go.  I was initially pretty lukewarm about the idea, but when I realized that a Jane Austen themed ball could just as easily be considered a Patrick O'Brian themed ball.  So I've got a bead on a British captain's costume and I'm all set.   

But I've never done anything like this and I have a couple questions (But am too afraid to seem like a NOOB to ask the organizer):

1. So, um, is something like this kind of like a role-playing thing?  Do you not only get dressed up in period costumes and eat period food, but you also pretend that you are a character from the early 1800s?  Or are you still just yourselves, just in funny clothes?  How does something like this work?

2. Glasses.  My current specs are black plastic and not remotely appropriate.  But my old glasses were mangled (thus the need for new glasses) and I can't see without them.  Can I get away with wearing them (since surely I'm not the only one with this problem), or is there some other cheap solution I'm not thinking of?



And more generally - anyone else ever done any historical re-enacting?  How'd it go?  What did you think of it - share your story!

[garbon]

From what you said, it sounds like a theme party. I wouldn't expect role-playing.

[Barrister]

From what you said, it sounds like a theme party. I wouldn't expect role-playing.

Well kind of, but it's not just a private party.  They rented out a hall, organized a Kickstarter, got some newspaper coverage:

http://www.edmontonjournal.com/entertainment/Jane+Austen+fans+cordially+invited+Regency+ball/10052250/story.html?fb_action_ids=10154422009015607&fb_action_types=og.recommends&fb_source=aggregation&fb_aggregation_id=288381481237582

[garbon]

Oh, wow.

[grumbler]

I don't think you are expected to role-play at these things, but rather to help maintain a visual suspension of disbelief.  Dressing, bowing, kissing hands, doffing hats, that type of stuff.  I suspect that you quickly pick up the expectations once you get there.

[Barrister]

Yeah, she kind of takes her fan-dom and turns it up to 11...

Here's the kickstarter page for it (now funded)

https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/587301146/regency-michaelmas-ball

[derspiess]

Wow.

[Barrister]

I don't think you are expected to role-play at these things, but rather to help maintain a visual suspension of disbelief.  Dressing, bowing, kissing hands, doffing hats, that type of stuff.  I suspect that you quickly pick up the expectations once you get there.

Thanks.  Makes sense.  I guess my nerdy roots are showing though, as to me this felt more like LARPing (which I only ever did once or twice, but still).

[Sophie Scholl]

As mentioned, it really depends on the goal of the organizer.  When I was a kid I volunteered at Fort Stanwix National Monument.  At the time, I would dress in full 18th century Revolutionary War era clothing and they did a first person in character portrayal effort.  Everyone there generally portrayed either a member of the 3rd NY Regiment or one of the families that would have been there.  That was both rather difficult and rather rewarding.  It made for a lot of fun, but being as the Fort was surrounded by the modern world just beyond the walls it made it difficult to keep up the facade. 

I have since gotten a job with the park service and am working once again at Fort Stanwix National Monument.  Among my various park ranger duties is the putting on of period clothing and interacting with the public.  I now portray a member of the Six Nations Indian Department in terms of my clothing and efforts at reaching the public and presenting the often neglected sides of the Loyalists and Natives.  Currently, the whole first person interpretation idea has been scrapped and it's simply 21st Century me just in old clothing. 

In addition to the work at the Fort, I actually partook in a few reenactments at other locations as a kid and am hoping to do so again now as an adult.  The first one I'm going to have a chance of making is toward the end of this month and it will be either an encampment at Saratoga Battlefield or a weekend encampment plus battle at Johnstown, NY.

[Josquius]

So there won't be regular dice rolls to determine whether your actions are successful?

[The Minsky Moment]

It's been a while, but weren't the military characters in Austen novels Army, not Navy?

[Maximus]

My experience with similar things is that as long as some effort is made you can be as hardcore or not as you want. There are some exceptions of course.

[Barrister]

It's been a while, but weren't the military characters in Austen novels Army, not Navy?

I dunno - I haven't read them (don't tell Tara) 

But I understand there were some naval characters in some (though not in P&P?), and Austen's brother was a naval captain.

But the point isn't to recreate the novels themselves, but rather the general time period.

[Martinus]

Wow.

[Malthus]

2. Glasses.  My current specs are black plastic and not remotely appropriate.  But my old glasses were mangled (thus the need for new glasses) and I can't see without them.  Can I get away with wearing them (since surely I'm not the only one with this problem), or is there some other cheap solution I'm not thinking of?



And more generally - anyone else ever done any historical re-enacting?  How'd it go?  What did you think of it - share your story!

I had this problem, when I went to a 19th-century-themed costume party many years ago.

What I did, was find an old pair of glasses that were still more-or-less my prescription and made them into a lorgnette, by adding a fancy handle to one side:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lorgnette

Looks very "period" (if you are going as a foppish type!  ).