I agree with you completely. That is why when people ask me for information about the hurdy gurdy or the music we play we give them what we understand to be common knowledge and then point them to the real experts if they want more. I fell into music sort of accidentally and the gurdy doubly so. I am always continuing to educate myself about music and my instruments but I am not an expert and I do not hold myself up to others as one, especially those who don't know much at all about the subject. It's important to keep the distinction clear between fantasy and fact. US ren faires are fantasy- but when the fantasy takes a little break, as when I explain the gurdy, I revert to factual content and always point people to real experts in early/medieval/renaissance music if they want more information.
Interestingly, being truthful does not always result in a happy "customer." We played a pirate festival a few years ago, the sort of festival that is so obviously fantasy that no one should be expected to be thinking that there is any truth involved at all, and a woman shopkeeper asked me what the historical significance of my costume was. I was very sorry to have to explain that my leather bodice (more appropriate to a fairy than any pirate) and other gear were not in the least bit historical. Perhaps my hat was approximately appropriate... but otherwise, pure fantasy. Considering this was well off-stage (she never heard me perform) and that numbers of Johnny Depp "Captain Jack" clones were literally staggering around us as we spoke, I was surprised she was disappointed about my costuming. It's a tricky thing. We are entertainers and, at the same time, de facto educators and yet often people don't want to hear the truth- they want the fantasy to be real, that the Renaissance had clean streets, barmaids with full sets of teeth and water was always safe to drink, that pirates were basically good hearted rogues who would rob you perhaps but only kill you if you were bad. Another part of the fantasy is that anyone who is "on stage" must be right, must be telling the truth, must be able to be counted on to give out only accurate information. That is a real problem in the US which anyone who watches our politics would be quick to see how far this can lead people astray. :( Regardless of what people think they want to hear it's best to be kind and tell the truth. They may be initially disappointed but in the long run it's best all around. Felicia. On Dec 12, 2009, at 5:22 AM, [email protected] wrote: > We should just not forget that the audience cannot not know about > this topic as much as the performers do. The audience does > therefore not have (unlike the performers) the possibility to do an > informed differentiation between historical truth and fairy tale. > This gets us performers close to a position in which we are > endangered to profit from someones naivity. In my *personal* > catalog of fairness this is not the right way to go. -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "hurdygurdy" group. To post to this group, send email to [email protected] To unsubscribe from this group, send email to [email protected] For more options, visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/hurdygurdy The rules of posting, courtesy, and other list information may be found at http://hurdygurdy.com/mailinglist/index.htm. To reduce spam, posts from new subscribers are held pending approval by the webmaster.
