Impressions of Pennsic: Various and Sundry

[jducoeur]

The Inversion of Gadgetry: This Pennsic was probably my most device-light ever. Not only did I not go to Mystic Mail, nor turn on my cellphone once, I didn't even wear my glasses about half the time. (Between the rain and the sweat, they were just a lose.) That said, I was struck by the rise of one specific new modernity: the use of cell phone browsers to track NOAA weather maps. Many times during Pennsic, I saw folks pulling out their phones to check on the progress of the storms. Which I can understand (I've done it myself, and even pointed out to at least one person that it was possible), but it does change the experience of the weather.

Hitting the 55-Yard Barbarian: Standing next to Duke Randall on the lines to shoot. There's nothing so good for me as a little competition, and sharing a line with one of the best in the East (we were pretty much the only Easterners there at the time) did inspire me to do better than usual. I believe I got over half as many points as him that day, which I'll take as at least decent.

Legged and Immortal at the Great Wall: My one bit of armored combat this Pennsic was at the Great Wall Battle, which was particularly well-suited for combat archery. We were very well organized, with all the archers assigned to mobile units in advance. Which was great, until another archer got my leg while I was kneeling to cock my bow. Following which, I found myself apparently untouchable: at least a dozen arrows zinged past me as other archers tried to take me out and kept missing. In practice, I got about half my kills in that battle while stuck there on one knee, before someone finally tagged my grille.

The Many Faces of Wakefield: The four Wakefield Cycle plays were all very distinctive, and it was fascinating to watch. antoniseb and his crew made fine use of I Sebastiani experience, producing a broad version of Cain and Abel that was relatively easy to understand, and far raunchier than I would have expected. The Annunciation was a bit less polished than the rest, but it was fun to listen to the period poetry in its proper pronunciation. The Harrowing of Hell was delightful, with a cast of thousands and Rhonwyn playing a really deliciously sinister Satan. But I'm afraid that The Flight Into Egypt stole the show despite being the least-period of the bunch: Sophie the Orange did essentially The Muppets Do Wakefield, with the period play performed by a troupe of hand puppets (I Marvini) who were constantly interrupting their own lines with business and questions. Funny and enormously accessible, it was a production I'd happily push any parents at, as a way to teach this stuff to their kids.

The Parking Lot Next Door: Pennsic dies down a little earlier every year. This time, the camp next to ours was already packed and gone by Thursday evening, and Friday morning was full of people in the process of leaving. I can kind of understand it, but it still boggles me a bit. That said, having the empty space next to us did make our own load-out on Saturday morning much easier...

Comments

[liamstliam.livejournal.com]

My guess would be that the weather moved people to leave earlier.

That was pretty much the case for us.

[antoniseb.livejournal.com]

I don't think we added anything raunchy to the text. What am I to do when I am playing a character jealous that his brother is married and I am not, and the line says, "Hold thy tongue, yet I say, ever there the good wife strokes the hay"? Clearly I am pointing out that he has a better use for his tongue than telling ME what to do.

[jducoeur]

I don't think we added anything raunchy to the text.

Sorry, didn't mean to imply that you had. It was entirely the physical business that I was referring to. Very period, but *not* common in most modern productions of -- well, pretty much anything. It's very evocative, though, and winds up causing a much more visceral reaction to the text than I'm used to...