Memorial Day Weekend

[squiregaby]

This past Saturday was my first time at Scarby and I had more interaction with the actors than I have ever experienced at TRF.

I completely agree.  I've been to TRF once...and I don't intend on returning on my own.  Scarborough however is another story entirely.  I'd attend regardless of whether or not I went with a group.  I'd go to Scarby solo if I had to....and have actually.

[raevyncait]

I don't spend a lot of time at TRF, however the times I have gone, I have not had ANY interaction with cast... in fact, often, I don't even know who cast is, as opposed to garbed patrons and playtrons.

I admit that most of my time is spent in or near Pecan Grove, but never does a day go by that I don't see a good deal of cast interaction with visitors, whether they be garbed or not. I know that there are times when acts (as opposed to cast) focus a little more on those dressed in 'danes than on those of us garbed. I don't know exactly why that is, other than those of us garbed are usually already sucked into the festival and will likely be returning, and the hope is that by interacting someone who doesn't appear to be as involved with the festival, they will draw another return customer.  That being said, I usually see more cast in PG than I do when I'm in Holly Field, BUT, that is probably because I spend so much time there, and my time in HF is very rarely soon after Parade or during the chess match. I am also usually in HF on a specific mission to get somewhere and return to my group in PG, so I don't pay as much attention over there to the people. Nor do I peoplewatch over there much.

[lys1022]

Yeah but aren't the German brothers an act/stage performers? I'm talking about when I'm at TRF and the actors not stage performers come up to me or someone else and interact i.e. play with the patrons with out being provoked too, funny jokes, outrageous comments. Make us dance or show us how to correctly walk with a lady, make us profess our love to a french woman, etc, etc.

Yes, the German Brothers are a stage act.  Scarborough Performing Company actors are a strong force in the lanes.  There are certain times of day when a number of them are pulled out for shows (notably Chess Match, Parade, and Evening Court Dance), but generally they are covering most of the grounds and interacting with a lot of patrons.

I get it all the time at TRF. I've been to Scarby twice now and have received nothing and saw no one doing it, except stage performers such as Miguel from DJ&M or as you said, the German brothers.

Quite possibly, because you are so familiar with the TRF actors, you see them more easily and so assume that they're more active than SAPA.  Just as I probably see more of what SAPA does because I know each and every one of them on sight.  However, I find it hard to believe that not a SINGLE performer was ever in your area interacting with anyone.  And no, I am not saying that someone coming in the gates needs to know who the performers are to get entertained.  I am, however, saying that perhaps you may be seeing what you want to see, which is "evidence" supporting your subconscious desire to find TRF to be a better faire than Scarby because it is your home faire.  It happens.  We all want to believe that our home faire is the best one out there in all aspects.  Pride in your home faire is a good thing.

I'm not trying to bust balls or say its not happening.

Are you sure?  I'm sorry if this is coming off as a bit defensive, but I know how hard the members of SAPA work.  I know how much of an effort they make to hit as many patrons as possible.  They are not tied to a specific area of the faire like TRF performers (SAPA plays a one-on-one defense rather than a zone defense *grin*), so there are definitely ebbs and flows as to where people are throughout the day.  But there is always interaction going on.

edited note:  I am not saying that a One-on-One is better than a Zone or worse, just that the faires handle things in different ways.  Neither one is better than the other...just different.

It's just so far I've never seen it happen. In fact, at one point I noticed an actor moving some benches for the king and queen to enter somewhere, and he just moved them and stood there waiting.....

1.  It may not have been an actor.  As others have mentioned, we have a very high playtron involvement level at Scarby.  If it was one of the Royal Guard playtrons, then they were probably on duty attending the Royals.  They do so in regular shifts.  Our Royals rarely go anywhere without at least four RG with them.

2.  If it was one of the SAPA Royal Guard, they were probably on duty.  When they are attending the Royals, they don't tend to play as much, which is why they also work rotating shifts.  When they are not on duty with the King and Queen, they play the lanes, but when they're on duty, they have to keep their focus on Richard and Shannon.

As for the rest of cast, I often see the Seahawks engaging patrons at the various eating areas, playing period card and dice games with them.  Villagers tend to engage on a more one-on-one approach or sometimes in pairs, so aren't as hugely obvious as the court folks or the groups like the Seahawks or Gypsies.  SAPA teaches its actors to do the smaller interactions as well as the large ones.  I know that when I was on performing company, I specialized in what we call "Patron Conversations" and would do a lot of in-depth conversations rather than the big, comical bits.  There were times when I would spend upwards from an hour with the same patrons, talking about everything from life at Court to how my character got dressed in the morning.  Others, like Woodrat or Mervyn the Henchman, specialize in the bigger crowd-gathering bits.

Believe me, SAPA works their butts off.  There are usually around 10,000 to 20,000 people on site every performance day, and only about 135 performing company members.  They do their darnedest to interact with as many as those people as possible.  At the end of the day their muscles ache, their feet hurt, and their bodies are exhausted, but they're still smiling because a lot of people had their days made just a little more fun because of what those performers did, no matter how hot it was or how wet it was.

Yeah, believe me, there is interaction in the lanes.  SAPA has the aches and pains to prove it!

[squiregaby]

Well spoken Lys!  I completely agree with everything you said!

[Laird Fraser of Lovatt]

Ok, we don't need the whole "my faire is better than your faire".  I personally know several TRF cast members, which makes it easy to interact... as y'all know your cast on a more "personal" level than i do. 

One thing is for sure... with the addition of Sherwood Forest, Texas has to be the greatest place in the country for faire goers.

[lys1022]

Ok, we don't need the whole "my faire is better than your faire".  I personally know several TRF cast members, which makes it easy to interact... as y'all know your cast on a more "personal" level than i do. 

One thing is for sure... with the addition of Sherwood Forest, Texas has to be the greatest place in the country for faire goers.

Exactly!  Only you said it a little more bluntly and less verbosely than I did.

And yeah, it's nice having so many festivals of so many types available to us in this part of the country.

[Merlin]

Ok, we don't need the whole "my faire is better than your faire".  I personally know several TRF cast members, which makes it easy to interact... as y'all know your cast on a more "personal" level than i do. 

One thing is for sure... with the addition of Sherwood Forest, Texas has to be the greatest place in the country for faire goers.

Exactly!  Only you said it a little more bluntly and less verbosely than I did.

And yeah, it's nice having so many festivals of so many types available to us in this part of the country.

I'll interpret that for you Fraser...  "little more bluntly" means straight forward and "less verbosely" means without all them fancy words and stuff.

[Blue66669]

Screw interactions, just point me to the pub...

[eloquentXI]

It really depends on the area that you're at and honestly, think about just how many people walk through the gates every single day that the faire is open? They try their hardest to interact with as many as possible. I know many that simply sit down with people at tables and chat with them, interact in-character with them, adding to the entire experience. You're human, are you not? Remember that they are too, and they cannot be everywhere all the time.

I know how hard SAPA works so though your wording is not meant to, it is a little insulting for the amount of blood and sweat that goes into our beloved faire.

[Blue66669]

Priority #1

PUB

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PRIVY

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[SirRichardBear]

OK Sat morning we did the plaid walk around the faire 118 walkers around 10 of who were cast member.  At ever point we ask people to join us on our walk both grabed and those wearing street clothing.  Sat Afternoon we held Scottish court around 20 cast member the rest QOH The court asked anyone who claim to be Irish grabed or not to come forward and join, then they did the same for anyone claiming to be French.  Sat Afternoon in the peacon grove we had a picnic everyone around was asked if they would like to sit and have lunch with us.  Same for Sunday.  Both the QOH and the SRG did heavy reciruiting Sat and Sunday.  Both Sat and Sunday there were dance classes were anyone around were ask if they would like to learn how to do court dancing.  Not sure what else could be done to encourage interaction.

[Laird Fraser of Lovatt]

Priority #1

PUB

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Priority #3

PRIVY

Priority #4

PUB

Yeah!  What she said!   Engage liver!

[Laird Fraser of Lovatt]

Ok, we don't need the whole "my faire is better than your faire".  I personally know several TRF cast members, which makes it easy to interact... as y'all know your cast on a more "personal" level than i do. 

One thing is for sure... with the addition of Sherwood Forest, Texas has to be the greatest place in the country for faire goers.

Exactly!  Only you said it a little more bluntly and less verbosely than I did.

And yeah, it's nice having so many festivals of so many types available to us in this part of the country.

I'll interpret that for you Fraser...  "little more bluntly" means straight forward and "less verbosely" means without all them fancy words and stuff.

I've always found that being blunt as a baseball bat/mace saves time and doesn't shatter illusions later...  part of me charm. 

[Riot]

Fraser, so THAT'S why your in "awesome" book!

[Laird Fraser of Lovatt]

Why, thank you, my dear... you get a double Rusty Nail next weekend!