Laurabelle's Blog

Yesterday evening Jeff and I went to the debut performance of a play called The Commoner King, written by two SCA members named Owen the Merry and Finn au Neill. We went because it was supposed to be funny, and because there was a feast beforehand and I wanted to use my new feast gear (thanks Dad!), but it was much more than that as well. It was hilarious, true, but it also has real characters, and it makes a fairly SCA-political argument about the nature of honor and duty.

Speaking of the characters, the casting was absolutely delicious. Ariel de Courtenay, who is a laurel for costuming and a terribly sweet and helpful individual, played Deborah the Gentle, a selfish, power-scheming, and stupid queen of the fictional SCA kingdom of Athelbross. Ariel apparently made all her costumes, of which she had about five, and which are beautifully sewn and constructed but hideously tasteless. (It must have been either maniacally fun or gut-wrenchingly painful for her to sew them.) Her performance would not have been half as amusing if I didn't know Ariel was exactly the opposite of her character in almost every way.

The Commoner King will be performed again at Twelfth Night, the event where the current King and Queen of An Tir will step down, and current Crown Prince and Princess will step up. I think the play would be a useful tool for reminding SCA monarchy of the dangers of abusing power, except that those who would listen don't really need it, and those who need it, aren't listening to anyone but themselves.