NOTE: the above image is not the video. To see the video, click the link at the bottom of this page!
About two years ago I was trying to think of a way to have my storytelling merge with my love of research. Of course, I could always study the history of a piece and its author but I wanted to add another level of work. It occurred to me while going on yet another “Virtual Trip” that it would be amazing to be able to know what my storytelling would have sounded and looked like in the time it was written or after. Imagine hearing a Venetian read Machiavelli aloud. What does the room look like? What would they be wearing? Where in a building are you and what do you feel, smell and notice?
There are living historians, performers and others who specialize in these recreated moments and pondered how I could create “enchanted ground”, “time travel”, “living history” of a sort. For me, I decided I would try to capture an everyday spoken word moment. I would study not only the text I would read, but the location, season, clothing worn and other details relating to one moment. In this way I could blend two aspects of my hobby together.
This seemed like a multipart project but I had no idea that each aspect of this short moment in time would be a project in of itself. What I discovered was that this project would be more like finding a set of nesting dolls. Every time I opened one level, a new one was presented. Finally, after much work, I reached the point where I could film my final product. Hours and hours and hours of research, blogging, proof of concept work and more to produce a few short minutes of video.
This is such a cool project! I love all the thought and details you put into it, and I really enjoyed reading your documentation and hearing the final result. Thank you for a magical moment!
This is amazing! So many details looked into and so much thought put into it. I love everything about this project. Thank you for creating magic!
This is a lovely project, and it’s great to see a performance piece among the entries! Your research leads me along with you as you “fall down the rabbit hole”, exploring all the aspects of your performance. Thank you!
Thank you for sharing this brief medieval moment. You’re so lucky to have access to this space. It was great to follow along with you in your process of developing this moment in (or out of) time.