Lumpy King o' ye Realm Lump'n M'Crack member is offline
Admiral Dread Pirate Lumpy
Joined: Aug 2005 Gender: Male Posts: 1,772 Location: Revel Grove, Oxfordshire Karma: 257
2009 « Thread Started on Jul 29, 2009, 8:15pm »
The Revenant Revel Grove, Oxfordshire, England
The year is 1543. Henry VIII and his Royal Court have fled London for the fresh and healthsome air of the countryside. "The Great Pestilence" has returned to England and many in London have died. Hans Holbein, the great artist, would perish from the plague. Henry, always fearful of illness, has stated that no one who has been in London may come within 7 miles of his country estate.
While the times have been turbulent, the King has now gotten over his grief from the betrayal of the young Katherine Howard, his fifth queen, and is looking to wed.
Gossip is rife in the Court surrounding possible brides. There are some - including the lady herself - who feel that the King may take back his divorced 4th wife, Anna of Cleves. He has summoned Anna to meet with him in Revel Grove for a private conference. Anna is thrilled - is it possible that she will once again be Queen of England?
In July, Parliament has passed the 'Succession to the Crown Act 1543', which returns Henry's two daughters Mary and Elizabeth to the line of succession behind Prince Edward, any potential children of his, and any potential children by a future wife. After a season of sadness and pain, the daughters of Catherine of Aragon and Anne Boleyn are at last welcomed back to Court.
In The Village:
The people of Revel Grove greatly anticipate the visit of the King and his Court to their annual Harvest Festival. The long-suffering Justice of the Peace, Sir Richard Southwell, has been appointed as Mayor -much to his dismay. Ever hopeful, he anticipates this visit will gain him a post back to his rightful place at the Inns of Court. So word that the plague has infected the nearby village of Tiddington has him quite concerned. He knows of the King's great fear of illness and is determined that nothing will get in the way of the King's visit and a successful Court appointment.
Traveling this day is the Scottish poet and diplomat, Sir David Lyndsay. Sir David is astonished when he sees a familiar face in the crowd. It is a young woman he recognizes from many years ago during a diplomatic mission to France. His great lost love, Francoise de Foix. But this is impossible! She looks as young as she did when he was last in France, twenty-three years ago. And he had word that Francoise was dead!
The young woman insists her name is Angelique Saville, a singer who is traveling with a band of entertainers. Surely it is just the confusion in the mind of an old man. But is it?
Strange things have been occurring since this French woman has come to England. The plague is claiming many victims and the pandemic has people searching for any explanation and cure. The peasants know that spirits can be a cause of the plague and spread illness. In times of great anxiety, the search for answers can lead down many unwise paths. A look at the 16th century perspective on the plague and country folklore.
THE PLAYS:
This year's mainstage play on the Globe will be a new stage adaptation of Miguel de Cervantes famous novel, Don Quixote, Book I. This adaptation is by Mike Field and will be directed by Timothy Shaw. Starring Fred Nelson as Don Quixote and Brian Reynolds as Sancho Panza.
The Shakespeare play will be Much Ado About Nothing, directed by Timothy Shaw. This one hour production will be presented on weekends in October only. Starring Courtney Weber as Beatrice and John Dickson as Benedick.
"A friend is one who knows who you are, understands where you have been, accepts what you have become, and still gently allows you to grow." William Shakespeare
Master Chris Guest
Re: 2009 « Reply #1 on Aug 6, 2009, 4:39am »
Seems to me that the storyline is, well, darker this year.
Granted, the Royal Court storylines usually are darker than the Village Ensemble storylines, but the Village Ensemble storylines usually are lighter in tone. The only exceptions I can think of right now are 1993's (where the village was threatened to be razed for the construction of a new castle -- in the end, the village was saved, but the Mayor was killed after a fight ensued when he declared that his signature on the document handing over the village was a forgery), and 1999's (the Sir Edgar Hargrove murder mystery).
Yes, the plague was one of the unpleasant stuff that happened back in those days, and yes, it claimed the life of Hans Holbein, and the talented painter ended up being buried in a common grave. But still, it's kind of a heavy subject for the Village Ensemble story. Kind of the sort of thing that could ruin one's appetite for steak-on-a-stick and turkey legs.
Oh, sure, there's room for comedy, but it'd be darker comedy than usual.
Well, I suppose I should see how they handle it, but still, I felt I had to say this.
2009 Storyline « Reply #2 on Oct 8, 2009, 2:26pm »
This note will contain spoilers for the 2009 storyline, but since we're only a few weeks from closing weekend, I suppose it doesn't matter too much.
Well, I've seen it and I still have mixed feelings about it.
Whenever the Royal Court storyline doesn't have enough drama, then it's time for the Village to step up to the drama plate. So in 1998, we saw the Revel Grove/Tiddington rivalry get out of hand when the Tiddington posse kidnap Emilia Hargrove so that Tiddington's entrant in the Harvest Queen competition will win. In 1999, we had the murder mystery involving a number of unsuccessful attempts on the life of Sir Edgar Hargrove before one finally succeeds at the 5 pm show. In 2002, we had the 'wailing woman and the hooded monk' hired by Pierce Templeton to spook the villagers into selling their property to him cheaply.
And this year, we have the supernatural mystery of Angelique Saville, who may or may not really be Francoise de Foix. And we have ... the plague.
No question about it. This storyline is probably THE darkest Village Ensemble storyline ever. This year, there's no fun mayoral debates, or mock trials to find 'foreign invaders'. While Sir Richard Southwell is his usual wonderfully sarcastic self at the opening gate show, and Sheriff Edmund Pierce's doomed attempt to win Pirate Queen Jean Cabot's affections provides some comic relief, the overall tone is more serious than we've come to expect from the past few years. And it gets grimmer from there.
Wesley Cudgel, the chapman from Tiddington, has left Tiddington because 'business has been bad due to the sickness'. Yes, it appears the plague has struck the 'Shelbyville' to Revel Grove's 'Springfield'. But not to worry. Revel Grove is a safe haven from all that, right? The plague wouldn't dare spoil people's appetite for turkey legs by showing up there, right? At the 5 pm show, there will be announcement that the plague has abated and everyone breathes a collective sigh of relief, right?
Well, not quite. What happens at the 5pm show ('The Dream Denied') is much stranger.
Yes, the storyline involving Princess Anna of Cleves speculating that the King might take her back as his wife is resolved (of course, we all know King Henry is looking to wed Katherine Parr at this point), but the Village storyline takes an even darker turn.
Sir David Lyndsay meets with Wesley to recieve the ring from his past with Francoise Le Foix. Shortly after Wesley searches in his cloth bag for the ring, he suddenly falls ill, and begins hallucinating. Sir Richard's extended family fears it may be the plague. Wesley is taken away to a chamber provided by Morgana Pierce Southwell (cunning woman and wife of Sir Richard Southwell's physician brother), while deputy Thomas Cudgel (Wesley's cousin) notes that the sickness in Tiddington (as well as the strange mists and mysterious disappearances reported by Jean Cabot) coincided with the appearance of Angelique Saville. While Sir Richard Southwell is a man of the law and a bit skeptical, he nonetheless authorizes a search. Sir David Lyndsay also goes to search for Angelique, for it appears the villagers blame her for the pestilence and will do her harm.
Meanwhile, Sir Richard's wife Agnes grabs Wesley's cloth bag and rushes off announcing her intention to sell it so that some good can come out of this. But really, if you think about this, you can tell no good can come out of doing anything with that cloth bag other than, say, burning it and all its contents. (More on this later).
Angelique shows up, looking nervous and getting ready to leave the village, as Sir David Lyndsay finds her. Sir David tells her what she more or less already knows -- that she's not safe there because the villagers are not acting rationally and blame her for the sickness. She responds that Sir David isn't acting rationally, either, believing her to be his long lost love, Francoise de Foix. She tells him not to live in the past, and that if he truly loved Francoise, he'll let Angelique go. And then during the conversation (where Sir David gives her the ring) she lets slip something Sir David didn't tell her about the time he and Francoise spent together. And then the two embrace.
Could it be she IS Francoise? But if that's the case, why is she still the age Sir David remembers her being 24 years ago? Those questions are not answered, but she says she is NOT the cause of the pestilence.
Just as Sir David is asking those questions, Deputy Cudgel arrives. Sir David draws his sword to defend Angelique. Sir David and Deputy Cudgel fight, and Sir David is mortally wounded. Angelique screams -- a chilling, piercing scream --- and then runs off and disappears. Sir Richard Southwell and Deputy Cudgel hear from the returning Agnes that Wesley is dead. And as Sir Richard and Deputy Cudgel carry off Sir David Lyndsay's body, the 5 pm show ends.
Now, as a follower of the storylines, I'm used to everything being resolved in the 4:30 or 5:00 shows. In the village, wrongs are righted, mysteries are solved, and there's genuinely a sense that the day's storyline is concluded. Sir Edgar Hargrove's murderer is revealed, Sir Richard Southwell is appointed Mayor much to his surprise and dismay, and so on.
Here, however, however, very few questions are answered, and very little is actually resolved. I can live with Angelique Saville's mystery not being explained. I love a good supernatural story in which the viewer is left to decide for themselves what was really going on. And since Sir David Lyndsay was killed off, Angelique's true identity probably doesn't matter much (I could be wrong, though). What really bothers me is the lack of resolution as far as the plague goes.
Don't get me wrong -- I thought 'The Dream Denied' and the shows leading into it to have good writing, and great performances by the actors involved. I thought it was good, in and of itself. It's just that ... well, the lack of resolution kind of violates one of my sacred cows.
And that sacred cow would be ... Revel Grove is a safe haven from the plague. It only happens to other villages. Characters, in the context of the storyline, may fall victim to a traitor's poison or a sword or dagger, but the plague was something Revel Grove steered clear of. In fact, undertaker and gravedigger characters used to bemoan its absence from Revel Grove.
Here, Wesley Cudgel has died, apparently of the plague, meaning that his body would have to be buried as quickly as possible. And his cloth bag, thanks to Agnes' stupidity, has gone missing. Even if Agnes sold it to a merchant who was leaving Revel Grove and the village was more or less safe, no good can come from it, as Revel Grove would be blamed for spreading the pestilence to whatever village that merchant with the cloth bag ended up in next. Not a happy ending, or even an ending, really. It's more of a cliffhanger.
And I'm not sure cliffhangers really work with MDRF storylines. It's one thing to end a storyline on a note that opens up new storyline possibilities as long as the actors are available (for example, Sir Richard Southwell becoming the reluctant Mayor) but cliffhangers are another thing entirely. We only get one 'episode' (repeated for the run of the season) every year. I'm not sure if it's right to wait another year to tie up the loose ends. Cliffhangers can work in television and other mediums, but I'm not convinced they fit well with Renaissance Festival storylines.
So all in all, I have mixed feelings about the storyline.
Joined: Sept 2008 Gender: Male Posts: 37 Karma: 21
Re: 2009 « Reply #3 on Oct 8, 2009, 3:51pm »
I'll try not to be overly spoilerish. Everything I'm going to say is in the scripted lines, so I don't think I'm overstepping what we should/shouldn't say about the storyline.
Agnes doesn't go to sell the bag. It's full of blankets, and she goes to donate those blankets to the local orphans, or something like that (something charitable).
By the end of the scene between Sir David and Angelique, it should be pretty clear that Angelique is Francoise. The moment would work better if they were clearly vastly different ages. Alas, Tom's attempts to gray his hair instead just made him blonde, and his hair just won't hold color treatment stuff... Now THERE'S a mystery to unravel.
If you could see how totally different in age the two characters are, the "Why isn't she older?" question becomes more prominent. The clues to this are in Edmund Pierce's comic relief bits, and in the title for the year's storyline.
The cliffhanger comments are valid. We normally have a lot more resolution. We don't always though. In handling Cromwell's demise, he dreamed terrible things, but then woke up from that dream and walked out. Would it actually happen that way? Yes. And you probably knew that from watching it, so maybe it's not the best example. But the point is, it left the audience to fill in the rest of the story. The same holds true this year, I just think you're gunshy about filling in the rest of the story. You know what happens.
This year's storyline is very dark, but the plague angle is true to history. It was a really bad plague year, and there's no way to not make that dark. It would be dishonest to pretend that a place like Revel Grove wouldn't get hit. But as dark as that is, imagine how much darker it would be if we ended the show by saying, "And then everybody died."
I doubt this year's story will be addressed much next year, even though we are repeating the year 1543 (for the other stuff that was important that year). I say check to see who's still in the village, and assume everybody else died. Southwell lives, because he's a historical character.
Not my favorite storyline ever. I think we can all agree it suffers from a severe lack of J. Owen Dickson. That, and vampires have never been my cup o' tea.
The cliffhanger comments are valid. We normally have a lot more resolution. We don't always though. In handling Cromwell's demise, he dreamed terrible things, but then woke up from that dream and walked out. Would it actually happen that way? Yes. And you probably knew that from watching it, so maybe it's not the best example. But the point is, it left the audience to fill in the rest of the story. The same holds true this year, I just think you're gunshy about filling in the rest of the story. You know what happens.
Well, it'd be hopelessly naive to think that Wesley Cudgel would be the only casualty. Plagues don't work that way. If they did, houses wouldn't have had to be marked off to warn people 'this is a plague house', and people wouldn't have had to wear special masks and such to treat people sick with it.
Well, Sir Richard Southwell is based on a real person, so he should be safe. I don't know about his family, though. I'd say what happens next is the house where Wesley was taken to die gets marked as a 'plague house', and that Southwell's in-laws and such also die.
Indeed, Cromwell is a bad example, because we know from history what happens next (which is that everything from that vision of the future does come to pass). History doesn't record what happened to most of Revel Grove's residents, so we can't be sure what happens there. But unless I'm mistaken, the plague didn't strike 100% of England. If it had, more of the court than just Hans Holbein would have died of it (and accounts vary as to whether or not Holbein really died of the plague).
Quote:
This year's storyline is very dark, but the plague angle is true to history. It was a really bad plague year, and there's no way to not make that dark. It would be dishonest to pretend that a place like Revel Grove wouldn't get hit. But as dark as that is, imagine how much darker it would be if we ended the show by saying, "And then everybody died."
I doubt this year's story will be addressed much next year, even though we are repeating the year 1543 (for the other stuff that was important that year). I say check to see who's still in the village, and assume everybody else died. Southwell lives, because he's a historical character.
Sir David Lyndsay is also a historical figure. Although the circumstances of his death were unknown according to what I recently read, most seem to say he lived for at least another decade past 1543. And yet, he's killed off during this storyline.
So, what happens? Is Sir David not really dead? Does Sir David return as a revenant/whatever Francoise/Angelique is before disappearing in the mid-1550s? Or is it just assumed people got the date of Sir David Lyndsay's death wrong and he died a decade earlier?
But I think Sir Richard Southwell is probably safe anyway. He's needed to help with King Henry VIII's will, after all. Not to mention playing the straight man to the eccentrics of the village.
Quote:
Not my favorite storyline ever. I think we can all agree it suffers from a severe lack of J. Owen Dickson. That, and vampires have never been my cup o' tea.
I got the impression that was to give J. Owen Dickson more time to spend with the Hooligans. But yes, Charles Garrick this year isn't quite as memorable as say, Middle J. Middle. He really isn't given a whole lot to do story-wise. But he's okay, anyway.
Yes, I suppose it would be dishonest to say that in a really bad plague year such as 1543, the plague couldn't make its presence known in an English village in Oxfordshire that's a favorite of the King and all. Indeed, 'it can't happen here' would be a bad message to send. The price of freedom from any terrible thing is eternal vigilance, after all.
As for Sir David Lyndsay, I had a discussion about that at fair with a few persons who I won't name here, and we had a few lighthearted speculative musings about that. Among the possible explanations, in no particular order.
He reappears as a Francois de Foix/Angeligue Saville type revenant from 1543 to 1555.
Deputy Thomas Cudgel assumes his identity because he feels guilty about killing him.
He's taken to Miracle Max. Though that seems a bit .. inconceivable.
(Okay, say the line with me. "You keep using that word. I do not think it means what you think it means.").
Or maybe ... those recording Lyndsay's death date as being in the mid 1550's had it wrong, and MDRF got it right.
It probably won't matter anyway, as I'd be surprised if we see either Sir David or Francois/Angeligue again after this year's storyline.
Of course, to be honest, I didn't realize Sir David Lyndsay was a historical figure either until I looked him up. When I did, I thought 'Well, this already weird storyline just got weirder'. However, for the most part, I think when dealing with historical figures, most of them are pretty much safe from being killed off until the storyline reaches the year their death was recorded. King Henry will be fine until we reach 1547, for example.
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