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!
From what you said, it sounds like a theme party. I wouldn't expect role-playing. :unsure:
Quote from: garbon on September 04, 2014, 02:56:58 PM
From what you said, it sounds like a theme party. I wouldn't expect role-playing. :unsure:
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
Oh, wow. :D
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.
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
Wow.
Quote from: grumbler on September 04, 2014, 03:09:50 PM
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). :nerd:
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.
So there won't be regular dice rolls to determine whether your actions are successful? :(
It's been a while, but weren't the military characters in Austen novels Army, not Navy?
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.
Quote from: The Minsky Moment on September 04, 2014, 04:00:42 PM
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) :ph34r:
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.
Quote from: Barrister on September 04, 2014, 02:54:26 PM
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! :D ).
Quote from: Malthus on September 04, 2014, 04:08:17 PM
Quote from: Barrister on September 04, 2014, 02:54:26 PM
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! :D ).
That... could just work! It's the arms on my old glasses that are mangled, not the lenses.
Quote from: Barrister on September 04, 2014, 04:10:37 PM
That... could just work! It's the arms on my old glasses that are mangled, not the lenses.
The downside is having to carry the damn thing around and peer through it when you want to see anything.
The upside is that it is awesomely period.
Could we merge this with the gay thread plz thnx
Quote from: Tyr on September 04, 2014, 03:57:27 PM
So there won't be regular dice rolls to determine whether your actions are successful? :(
That could be interesting when role-playing a social event from a novel with romance as a theme.
"The dice role comes up with a 4. Nancy, that means my pass at you is successful, and we are to retire to the pantry and have sexual intercourse. Just another part of realism of the role playing of course."
Quote from: The Minsky Moment on September 04, 2014, 04:00:42 PM
It's been a while, but weren't the military characters in Austen novels Army, not Navy?
One of them had an admiral or ship captain. Northanger Abbey I think
Oops Persuasion
I may be required to portray a bronze age archer in a while. :ph34r:
I would say we were semi in-character, meaning we would do drills in (badly mangled :blush: ) Latin and sort of be tongue in-cheek about it the rest of the time. For example, we referred to cars as 'magic chariots' and cell phones as 'horns of the gods' but we didn't go around speaking in Latin when people asked us questions about our kit or how Romans fought, etc.
When I re-enacted, I did not wear my glasses.
btw I am in the process of assembling a new costume. :cool: FB friends will know what it is and I may do a TBR photo soon.
Quote from: mongers on September 04, 2014, 05:20:50 PM
I may be required to portray a bronze age archer in a while. :ph34r:
We had a guy who portrayed a Nabataean archer and built his own composite bow. He was pretty damn good with it, too.
So part of a Regency Ball is dancing. Mrs B signed us up for dancing lessons that were put on by the ball organizer.
Somehow we were also tasked with going to pick up the dancing instructor. She was a nice elderly English woman who was going to teach us how to do English Country dancing. She also had a helper, an even older scandinavian fellow. On the way over they wondered just how many people would be there, commenting that at a minimum you'd need at least six people.
Well we get to this community hall and the parking lot, and building, are packed. There had to be 60-80 people there ready to learn to dance. Our dancing instructor was floored - she'd never thought that many people would want to learn english country dance.
The crowd had more of it's share of weirdos, but wasn't too bad. Overwhelmingly white, middle aged females, of course.
I've got two more weeks of dancing lessons to go. :ph34r:
Ancient Scandi dude got game?
Quote from: The Brain on September 08, 2014, 12:58:39 PM
Ancient Scandi dude got game?
He must - he mentioned in their little group of dancers he'd often be the only man. :shifty:
Quote from: Barrister on September 04, 2014, 04:04:17 PM
Quote from: The Minsky Moment on September 04, 2014, 04:00:42 PM
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) :ph34r:
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.
There are several, including a yellowed Admiral who tells slightly risque anecdotes and a couple of sea captains (eg Captains Benwick and Wentworth in
Persuasion)...........there may be more I can't recall. They don't really stand out as naval characters per se as she portrays them in their social off-duty guise rather than as fighting men.