Last summer, our beloved Queen Thora approved and blessed a new experiment by the Atlantia Performing Arts Guild – the Royal Players program! This is a program where a team of experienced performers is gathered to represent a wide variety of performing arts and geographic locations throughout Atlantia. This team has the mission to create time and space for Performing Arts activities at events throughout the kingdom and model excellence in performing. The Royal Players team is presented and approved by Their Majesties of Atlantia and presented to the populace at Pennsic. They serve a one year term, then they have the option to continue or opt out. New members can be recommended and invited by the team.

The Royal Players for our first (experimental) year have been outstanding in their support of Performing Arts! They have proven that this is a program that works. Here are their accomplishments from the past year:

• Hosted 26 bardic circles
• Performed 9 times for background music
• Hosted 8 competitions
• Taught 35 classes
• Performed 9 concerts
• Performed music for dancing 9 times
• Created 7 dance balls or haflas
• Performed administrative duties to support Performing Arts programs at 14 events
• Wrote 4 articles or white papers on Performing Arts

Altogether, the Royal Players team created 121 activities in support of Performing Arts this year. They attended 26 events over the past year, not including rehearsals and practices.

Additional accomplishments of this team includes:

• Lady Harper an Cu was selected to be Kingdom Bard
• Johann von Solothurn was elevated to the Order of the Laurel
• Mistress Kisaya kicked off and expanded the Atlantia Middle Eastern Guild
• Mistress Azza has created a system for the Atlantia Dance Band to get organized. She posts the play list with links to sheet music and recordings of her playing the pieces. It’s an excellent way to support musicians and dancers.
• Lady Nicolosa d’Isenfir was selected as the new Chancellor of the Atlantia Academy of Dance

Royal Players Year 1 at 12th Night 2017

The Royal Players for the year of Pennsic 45-46 includes these fine performers:

• Lady Scholastica Joycors – storytelling
• Lady Harper an Cu – instrumental and vocal music
• Lady Meriorie Matheson – theater
• Lord Hákon Erfikvaethiskald – solo and ensemble singing
• Mistress Fevronia Murometsa – instrumental and vocal music
• Lady Reynsa Keyferin – vocal and ensemble music
• Mistress Azza al Shirazi – instrumental music, specialty in dance band music
• Mistress Kisaiya Zingara – middle eastern music, dance, and culture
• Lady Nicolosa d’Isenfir – European dance
• Master Johann von Solothurn – instrumental and vocal music
• Mistress Dervila Ni Leanon and Baroness Sophia the Orange – administrative support

Here are some more pics of the Royal Players in action this past year:

Meriorie running a Shakespeare competition at 12th Night 2017

Royal Players Year 1 at War of the Wings 2016

Royal Players Year 1 with Spike at War of the Wings 2016

Mistress Azza rehearsing with the dance band at WoW 2016

Next year’s Royal Players team is currently in the hands of Their Majesties, Cuan and Signy, awaiting approval. The announcement for approval and names of the team members will be made at Atlantia Royal Court at Pennsic, starting at 6:00pm on War week Wednesday.

Great Vivants to the Royal Players of Atlantia!! Great job everyone!!!

With great appreciation and applause,

Baroness Sophia the Orange,

Guildmistress of the Atlantia Performing Arts Guild

The Performing Arts community achieved new heights at this year’s Twelfth Night event in the Barony of Sacred Stone! Peruse the pictures below and watch out for these gentles in the coming months if you want to come join in the fun!
1) European Dance! Sacred Stone’s own Lady Elizabeth of Northumberland led the dancing with excellent teamwork and support from Lady Nicolosa d’ Isenfir, our Royal Player in Dance. These two ladies brought dance education and graceful leadership to the event such that over 50 people got to enjoy the noble art of dance at the evening ball.

2) The dancing was supported by skillful and joyful efforts of Mistress Azza and the pick-up dance band under her direction! Ten instrumentalists followed Azza’s fearless direction and organization to produce high energy, live dance music deep into the night. Mistress Azza also serves as a Royal Player and will be producing live pickup bands at more events in the future. Watch for her at Ymir!

3) Our Royal Player in Theater, Lady Meriorie Matheson, produced an enlightening competition for actors to present their favorite Shakespeare pieces! Nine actors presented a wide variety of scenes from The Bard. The winner of the competition was a pair of amazing actors, Lady Machteld Cleine and an SCA newcomer, Cody, portraying Benedict and Beatrice from Much Ado About Nothing. See the video clip of their scene here:  https://www.facebook.com/Lara.Coutinho.Orange/videos/1877274525623126/?l=6072083277919904046

It’s one of the most excellent pieces of theater I’ve seen at an SCA event in years! These still pics are of some of the other excellent monologues.

4) One of Sacred Stone’s multi-talented performers, Lord Akiyama Kazuhiko, took on the great challenge of producing the Twelfth Night Murder Mystery play… and it was a hoot! The cast was talented and engaging as they kept us laughing and guessing at the causes of sudden death all day.

5) The Royal Bard competition proceeded per tradition at Twelfth Night with a long list of talented participants. Royal Bards for 2016, Lord Gideon ap Stephan and Master Ruaidhri an Cu, presented three brilliant performers to Their Majesties for the final competition during feast that night. Despite the most extremely challenging conditions of noise and interruptions in the feast hall, all three competitors, Lord Hakon Erfikvaethiskald, Harper an Cu, and Lord Richard Wyn, proved worthy of the position. The young lady Harper An Cu finished the evening with the title of Royal Bard!

6) The Rotunda, the circular area between the staircase and hall of art, hosted a non-stop stream of performers bringing music to the people throughout the day. Performers in the Rotunda included: Lord Johann von Solothurn, Cornelia Caeciliana, Baroness Margaret Cochrane, Baroness Morgan Wolfsinger, and the amazingly talented instrumental group Lillies Among Thorns!

7) The lunchtime tavern also brought some musical thrills when “Painted Wheel” band took the stage and kept the lunch patrons entertained!

8) Laughter brought the event to new heights with i Firenzi’s performance of Italian, 16th Century, improvised comic Commedia dell’ Arte in the afternoon’s play “Arlecchino of La Mancha!” The premier of this play included many new commedia actors enjoying their first performance. We were blessed by the presence and service of a silent herald who interpreted the whole improvised show into sign language! A special moment was also brought to us when the final scene was interrupted (with permission of the director) by Their Excellencies of Windmasters’ Hill bringing an award to one of our actors in the name of TRMs. Lord Jaume de Monco was honored with an Award of the Coral Branch for his many artistic talents including acting, stage magic, bardic performance, and brewing. See the video of the whole play and Jaume’s honoring here:  https://youtu.be/MKedlRJ-VwQ

Twelfth Night again brought too much fun to cram into one day! Many thanks to the event’s Autocrat, Baroness Caitlin Macdonoughue for her tireless efforts at organizing and providing event space for the Performing Arts Community to enjoy their arts!

During the Royal Court at Pennsic, August 10, 2016, Their Majesties Dietrich and Thora kicked off a new program for supporting the Performing Arts in Atlantia beyond their reign:

The Royal Players of Atlantia

The Royal Players of Atlantia is a group of 10 talented performers (just 3 shown above), spread geographically throughout the kingdom, who have well developed skills in a wide variety of Performing Arts:

• Vocal and instrumental
• Solo and ensemble
• Music and theater
• Scripted and improvisation
• Secular and sacred
• Dance – both Middle Eastern and European
• And those performing arts that don’t fit into a category!

The mission of the Royal Players of Atlantia is to serve as resources for event staff to help make time and space for all Performing Arts to happen at events throughout the kingdom and then to model excellence in performing themselves.

Their term of service is one year, September to August, ensuring that among them at least one performer can travel to Gulf Wars and Pennsic to represent Atlantia in the Performing Arts communities there. For this first year, the Royal Players were appointed by Their Royal Majesties Dietrich and Thora, and future teams of Royal Players may be chosen by appointment or audition at the whim of the Crown. The Royal Bard(s) work as partners with the Royal Players and may serve as a Royal Player at the whim of the Crown. Administrative support to the Royal Players is provided by the Atlantia Performing Arts Guild.

When you have need of music, entertainment, and the environmental richness that performing arts brings, reach out to these people and they will help you create the magic!

• Lady Scholastica Joycors
  • Specialty-Storytelling
  • Location: Barony of Lochmere
• Lady Harper an Cu
  • Specialty-Instrumental Solo Music
  • Location: north end of kingdom
• Lady Meriorie Matheson
  • Specialty-Scripted Theater
  • Location: Barony of Caer Mear
• Lord Hákon Erfikvaethiskald
  • Specialty: Solo and Ensemble singing
  • Location: Barony of Black Diamond (during academic year)/Barony of Ponte Alto (home)
• Mistress Fevronia Murometsa
  • Specialty: Solo & Ensemble instrumental music and singing
  • Location: north end of kingdom
• Lady Reynsa Keyferin
  • Speciality: Ensemble instrumental music
  • Location: Barony of Nottinghil Coil
• Mistress Azza al Shirazi
  • Specialty: Middle Eastern music
  • Location: Barony of Sacred Stone
• Mistress Kisaiya Zingara
  • Specialty: Middle Eastern Dance and culture
  • Location: Barony of Sacred Stone
• Lady Nicolosa d’Isenfir
  • Specialty: European Dance
  • Location: Shire of Isenfir
• Lord Johann von Solothurn
  • Specialty: Solo instrumental and singing
  • Location: Barony of Black Diamond

Lady Sophia the Orange and Mistress Dervila Ni Leanon are serving as mentors and admin help for the team.

You can connect with The Royal Players of Atlantia in their public Facebook group here:

https://www.facebook.com/groups/RoyalPlayersofAtlantia/

If you’re not a facebooker, please contact Lady Sophia the Orange via orangesophie AT gmail for email addresses to contact the Royal Players.