Tags
fail, historical reenactors, interpretation, Redcoats and Rebels, Reenacting, Revolutionary War, The Public
Detail, The Letter. Pietro Longhi, 1746. Metropolitan Museum of Art, 14.32.1
My time-travel was cut short this weekend after a trip to eight-nine-teen-something in Salem, as I had a trip to the Central Fly Over* for work instead. Still, through the magic of telephony and the interwebs, I heard about the Sunday OSV Experience and the Great Drawn Sabre of Saturday. (Caution: Strong language) One presumes and hopes that aside from whatever disciplinary action OSV will take– and they will–the CL commanders will address this clear safety violation.
The news photos show the usual collection of baggy menswear (are those painters’ pants? is this 1812?) and the Bodice of Myth and Legend (St. Pauli, anyone?) along with obligatory musket firing and “gotcha” shots of fallen soldiers sneaking peeks at the action. I don’t even have to say what we all think when we see those images.
But the Sunday report that struck me the most was this: The tactical went on for 45 minutes, very few soldiers fell, and the public began to leave before it was over. Got that? They got bored. As the teller of this tale said, The magic is gone. You can consider that a public endorsement of either more civilian events or a re-imagined tactical. I prefer the former, you may prefer the latter. But either way, if you’re going to use The Public as your justification for playing armed dress up on a hot day, you’d better engage that public. What that could mean will have to wait for another time, but when people head for the exits, the show won’t last.
* More on that later
Kitty Calash 
The only time I’ve left a battle early was actually this summer at the Battle of Waterloo. It had nothing to do with boredom, but everything to do with beating 58,000 other people to the shuttle buses to make 1 a.m. trains back to Brussels. The battle was longer, the field humongous (could not see everything), and the bleacher seats a tad chilly/uncomfortable, but we stayed as long as possible. Engaging the public is one of our ongoing discussions over here in the Midwest too. I’m interested to read more on this topic.
There are often (maybe always) good reasons to leave. In fairness to the event, I cannot judge why people left. My sources told me they sensed boredom in the crowd, and that they, too, were bored. (One of them fifed Retreat) But that’s really just a trigger for a conversation about what else we can do, and how to do it.