6/11/08 - week 2
A very important set of notes:
- What we do NOT do (aka How to get fired):
- We do not come here to hook up or date one another…this makes for a
great firing speech by Jim.
- We do not pick up or hook up with patrons…this will also get you fired
by Jim.
- We do not put off making a costume until the last minute or not making
one at all…this makes for a great chewing from Alice and possible firing
speech from Jim.
- We do not do drugs or drink alcohol during promos, meetings, classes,
academy or the during the festival day…which might get your firing
publically broadcasted by Jim.
- We do not secretly plot to undermine a co-performer if they make us
mad…this creates drama and Jim kills drama by firing people
THESE ARE COMMON SENSE THINGS…PLEASE DO NOT GET YOURSELF FIRED !
History
General Life In Tudor England
Small Town Life or Village Life:
- Most people lived in the country, in close knit villages, about 90%
- People knew each other very well…. cradle to grave
- Lived in Thatched Huts with one or two rooms, a table, bed made of straw
and stools instead of chairs. Animals could & would rest on the roof since
it was most likely made of straw.
- They had fire for heating their home, candles for light and shutters for
their windows.
- No formal education…just what you were taught by your mother or father.
You wouldn’t be able to read unless you went to a monastery or a clergyman
would assist you in writing or reading something.
- Toilets (or Privies) were usually a plank of wood with a hole cut out of
it that was placed over a bucket or a hole in the ground…no privacy! You
could wipe with leaves, moss or if you were lucky, soft wool.
- City Streets were filled with sewage, animal waste, human waste, rodents
and pests.
- People didn’t form strong bonds in court, like the lower classes but
more of alliances as they would politic their way to the top.
- Streets were narrow, crowded, the buildings blocked out the sun allowing
bandits and thieves whom could easily steal from people and merchants.
- Most people couldn’t read so the shop owners hung pictures of their
wares under the signs.
- Tradesmen or guild members of one trade would usually live on the same
street (butchers and slaughterhouses)
Middle Class:
- Lived in town homes or wooden houses perhaps.
- Most of this class were merchants or members of a guild and lived on top
of or in back of their shop.
- They might have had more comforts…a fireplace, a rug, a bed, chairs
- For education, they normally had tutors to teach them arithmetic,
reading, Latin and French.
Nobility & Royals:
- Lived in manors, mansions, and castles made of brick, stone, trimmed in
rich woods and had glass windows, tapestries, rugs, fireplaces and the like.
- Their privies emptied out into a moat nearby or around the structure.
- Many servants to wait on them and care for the household.
- Also had tutors or sent their children to different places altogether
for studies or even to live! (His Majesty and Elizabeth)
The Guilds:
- Merchants, craftsmen and artisans became members of trade guilds which
had an enormous amount of power.
- Membership being required for social, economic or political advancement.
- Some of the most important guilds had legal enforcement rights and could
forbid traders or artisans to operate within their jurisdiction on penalty
of confiscating their wares and tools.
- Several could search, by their own authority, to seize inferior goods.
- The Lord Mayor was elected from the ranks and was generally Master of
one of them.
- It was common for the guilds to present gifts to the Lord Mayor and to
the Sovereign on their patron saint’s day, a practice continued to this day
by some companies.
- They were (and still) are very concerned with protection of trade
secrets.
- Guild officers served a one year term, and were crowned in office with
great pomp. All companies share the ceremony of passing a loving cup of wine
or ale clockwise with the man who passed it standing to protect the
drinker’s back. The ceremony of mutual protection remains unchanged from
Saxon times, and is still performed among the London guilds.
A Typical Life:
- The average life span was 35 years!
- Childhood mortality rates were extremely high! It was estimated that
33-50% (depending on where you lived) would see the age of 16 years!
- The plague (Black Death) is usually to blame for our deaths.
- Customs are very strong in our daily routine!
- We are a segregated lot and suspect others whom are different or from
other places.
- The clergymen are vital for teaching us things and spreading knowledge.
- The rich are judged in status by showing how hospitable they are: some
go into debt as they host parties or other Nobles (like the King).
- The poor are given doles from the rich at the back gates of their
estates…once again their reputation depends on it!
- All children must obey the 4th Commandment: Honor Thy Mother
And Father. They kneel at their parents feet and ask for blessings over many
things.
- The parents are taught that "He who spareth the rod, hateth the child".
Without question, the child is taught to do as they are told.
- Most children start helping their fathers and mothers around the age of
7: household chores, babysitting, cleaning, herding, and collecting firewood
are just a few things they would do.
- Men and boys are valued more to society than women (although women would
and could politic better than some men)
- The first born son was blessed with many things: lands, title, rank
above his sisters and younger brothers. It would be his job to take over the
fathers duties, if the father should die. Younger brothers would be given a
job in a guild or sent to the monastery. Women were betrothed to other
families to improve the families over all rank in the Chain.
Food For Our Times:
- What you ate depended upon your status.
- Peasants usually dined upon: soups, hares or rabbits (the only thing
they could hunt), robins, turtles, onions, turnips, eggs, chickens and some
veggies like cabbage. Their bread was made of rye and barley: grayish and
hard. If you lived near water: fish was in your house too
- Merchants and on up ate the same things but if they could afford beef,
venison, apples, cherries and grapes-they would have those in their diet
too.
- Any exotic fruits like papaya, mangos, bananas, and kiwi are not known
to us (gypsies might know though)
- We are NOT water drinking people unless we know it’s fresh! Most water
is polluted do to waste in our streets which run into the rivers and streams
we live by! We drink wine and light ales. (We drink fresh water at
Canterbury!)
Tudor Entertainment
- People had to create their own form of entertainment
- They worked all day, 6 days a week- Sunday was day off!
- Watching plays became popular- acting troops traveled from town to town
to perform in the streets or outside of inns.
- Masques or Balls were a favorite of His majesty.
- Singing
- Dancing
- Music
- His majesty was a keen musician and enjoyed music so much he composed
ballads and church music- it’s been lost. When he died he left 5 bagpipes,
78 recorders, 78 flutes, and 1 mechanical Virginal- a type of key board or
harpsichord’s predecessor
Tudor Sports
- Jousting
- Tennis (but they had three extra goals in the wall behind the players)
- Hunting
- Bear Baiting (Henry VIII built a ring at the grounds of Whitehall)
- Football (much like soccer except, the field goals were a mile apart,
any number of people could play and there weren’t many rules! Still played
today over a period of two days with thousands of players)
- Dice, Cards and Gambling
Crime & Punishment
- No police but if you broke the law, the punishments were severe. People
believed that once you saw someone go through the punishment, it would make
a person not do the crime.
- Executions:
They were a public event, with vendors and people camping out for a good
spot.
70,000 people were executed in His Majesty’s reign alone.
Involved: beheadings, hangings, burnings, being pressed (crushed) or boiled
alive.
- Lesser Punishments were whipping (flogging), branding (M=murder,
V=vagrant or T=thieves), the Pillory (standing), the Stocks (sitting), the
dunking stool, having limbs cut off and The Drunkard’s Cloak.
Current Affairs
- King Henry has divorced his first wife Kathryn of Aragon (and
basically the Catholic church) and is to marry Queen Anne by the end of our
festival day.
a. Your character WOULD be impacted by this!
b. New Queen, new religion: and this worries you or affects you
- King Oberon & Queen Tatiana are disputing over the Henry/Anne Marriage.
a. You wouldn’t know this at face value, but if you speak to gypsies you
would know.
- The Lord Mayors daughter (Hermia) is upset due to her marriage
arrangement to Demetrius and wants to run away with Lysander while her
friend (Helena) loves Demetrius instead.
- The traveling actor group (The Mechanicals) will be performing for their
Majesties wedding and gets involved in the whole she-bang of the days
events.
- The Lord Mayor is having the gypsies as part of the entertainment as
well as, guarding their Majesties and keeping order in town-he’ll need the
pub by night’s end.
Cooking Up A Character
A. Character Surveys
- I want everyone in this room to know of or know each other.
a. Character wise but personal wise
b. Better for team and better for all of us to watch out for one another.
c. We’ll be doing interaction and games to get to know each other.
- The survey is one of the most important tools that you have.
a. Records who, what, where, when, why & how
b. You can write in history with other characters-please ask them before you
do.
- Make it real-don’t be the baker claiming you know King Henry when he was
a child-because you wouldn’t. However, you WOULD be in a tizzy because the
King will be eating your bread at the feast.
- Make it as detailed as you would like-but remember, nothing of abuse!
a. It’s used as your bible in finding gimmicks and schticks.
b. It’s read by many people so keep the language friendly.
c. There are examples of the character surveys on the entertainers website
from last year.
- You have until June 18th to get me your character survey, I
will give them to Rnee.
Remember your costumes are due June 25 at the costume parade.
Important Dates & Things:
- Character Surveys due June 18th : Email them or bring them to
me!
- Costumes check up next week! Bring stuff in to check with Alice if you’d
like.
- Costumes are due for the costume parade June 25th!
- Lenexa July 4th parade is next BIG promo!
Next Week:
BRING SURVEYS TO TURN IN- THEY ARE DUE!