For those who did not attend, the party took place at the court of Queen Elizabeth in a loosely historical Renaissance extravaganza. I was Thomas Radclyffe, the Lord Chamberlain and host, and Joanna did an amazing job as the Mistress of the Robes (the head of the ladies-in-waiting) and kept the table full of deliciousness throughout the night. Explorers vied for attention, courtiers vied for the queen's hand, and plotters vied for the throne. Intrigue was rampant. Before the end of the evening an ambassador lay dead, several nobles were sent to the Tower of London, and the Spanish Armada successfully invaded and conquered England--so it was a busy night, as you can imagine. The costuming was amazing across the board, and I think a fine time was had by all. I said at the time that I knew I was loved when 32 people would put on silly costumes and come play pretend for an evening, some having had to fly in for the privelege...
Some group shots to start things off:
Here the Queen is deep in conference with her Master of the Armory, Sir Henry Lee. Looking on is that dashing seaman, Sir Francis Drake. Ingrid, our Queen, took to imperious power like a fish to water.
Here several ladies--Lady Anne Cecil, Jane Dee, and Anne Vavasour--are deep in contemplation. There was a lot of paperwork to keep track of, and some studious review before the start was wise. So was holding on to your character reference material throughout the night (right, Budzik???).
Christopher Marlowe chats amiably with his chief rival, William Shakespeare (the thing behind the curly mop and the hat there). Mistress Hobbs, the sweet and loyal servingwoman, looks on with bemusement.
The Council of Four: Lee, the Spanish Ambassador Juan Futin da Greve, Sir Francis Walsingham, and Andrew Prim, Archbishop of York (for bonus points, try to guess which one is the archbishop!).
The captive Mary, Queen of Scots tells her sad tale to the sympathetic ear of another misunderstood nobleman, Prince Phillipe of France (the most foppish Frenchman ever, if that's even possible).
Elenor von Wallachia, a visiting lady from the Germanies. She spoke very little during the evening, but she had a delightful laugh, which made her possibly the best player of the night.
Our hostess and her real-life sister as Lady Jane Seymour. No one knows what they're laughing about here, and that's probably for the best. They've refused to reveal the secret--those irascible Court ladies!
The hairy beast that is Shakespeare (note the cool Goth fingernail polish there--what a drama queen) exchanges artistic comment with Levina Teerlinc, the royal Court painter. Meanwhile, Lord Robert Dudley is seducing yet another of his many lady-friends in the background...
Dr. John Dee, deep in contemplation of his Enochian texts. During this deep study, Dr. Dee's wife was off looking for a new man, his assistant was off seeking to make a quick shilling off the doctor's good reputation, and the Spanish Cardinal was off telling everyone that Dr. Dee was a madman, a sorcerer, and probably the murderer...
A couple of shots to try to capture the fullness of the assembled crowd at the close of the evening. The left half of the Cast...
... and the right. Several folks still did not fit into the frame--I should have gotten one group shot, but everyone had been so patient I hated to punish them further. There were some swords in the crowd, after all.
Some individual shots to cap things off:
I don't think anyone got more laughs than our delightful, effete Shakespeare, here in his fully glory. My favorite line of the night: "Some people say I'm the best playwright in England, but I wouldn't say that. Oh, look! There's Christopher Marlowe, the second best playwright in England! And I really mean that. How droll!"
The often unnoticed but always busy Irishman Edward Kelley, here with Lady Elenor. Note she is still laughing...
Mistress Nagel, the "other" servingwoman, alternately forming workers' unions and blackmailing the nobility. She had many names throughout the evening, most of which are unprintable here.
Mary of Scots, at her most innocent. This was approximately the expression she was wearing thirty seconds before Elizabeth had her removed to the Tower for plotting treason...
Elizabeth Gloriana in all her regalia. She commanded the Court with aplomb, keeping both her foes and her advisors guessing constantly, and pulled a few tricks that made the Chamberlain sweat.
Wizened, cautious old counselor to the Queen, Lord Canning. (It was more convincing with the huge grey beard you could lose a badger in, trust me. Deb was terrific in the part.)
It's Nell! Pronounced "Neil"; his parents were not good spellers. Dale stepped into this part at the last minute and ended up winning the "Best Character" competition--mainly based on looks like this one. The vote might have gone differently had he revealed more freely his past as a "rent boy."
Prince Phillipe, doing one of the little moves that made everyone look at him oddly all evening. Another of those great Shakespearean "girl-disguised-as-boy-fools-everyone" roles fulfilled admirably by sweet Anna.
The ambassador and the court painter, real-life sweethearts. Constance and Dave overcame the fact that I initially totally forgot to invite them and they filled in for others who couldn't attend at the last minute. Bravo, indeed.
Lord Robert the Absentminded. A brilliant strategist, save that he left all his secrets written down in a handy little stack early in the evening. He still managed pretty well, so that's a tribute to him. He owes me now, though.
Edward de Vere and his wife, Anne Cecil. Many couples were chosen on the basis of how amusing their height differences would be, and this one went spectacularly well. I am only sad I missed the moment when Christina pinned Aaron against the wall and intimidated him into revealing his indiscretions. Of course, if you know Christina at all, this is entirely plausible.
England's spymaster extraordinaire, Sir Francis Walsingham. Ernie was so good at this that he was nearly running most of the event. I liked his summary of his experience: "I failed at all seven of my goals and I had a ball doing it."
The brave and dangerous Sir Walter Raleigh. Watching him defend the magnificent treasure he had brought back from the New World--the much-maligned "Potato," the vegetable Philosopher's Stone--and hold his own against the wily Drake, and somehow evade responsibility for the disappearance of the Roanoke Colony was a wonder to behold.
The Old Guard did a fine job of holding their own, as well. Archbishop Prim and Katherine Ashley (Joanna's real-life parents) made great costumes and survived the strangeness of my friends. Meanwhile, my father hated every minute as Cardinal Diego Menendez de Aviles and had to be wrestled out of his costume by the end of the night. I'm glad my friends survived the strangeness of my dad.
Finally, your Host and Hostess for the evening. What a handsome couple!
We had tremendous fun, and I'm hoping to do something similar next year--so those of you many miles away, mark your calendars now. As I said in an e-mail to the participants, I was encouraged to make the costuming as difficult as possible, so it may be set in Ancient Babylon, or Feudal Japan--though I have received a lot of positive encouragement for my idea of a Mexican wrestling murder party...
Just call me El Mysterioso Blanco!
