Playing of Prizes

Greetings to all rapier fighters, courtiers, cavaliers and duelist of the Know World. Don Benedict Ashton invites one and all to come and participate in a most notable and excellent opportunity to show your skill, panache and flair at this year's KWAR. You will have the opportunity to “Play the Prize” in a replica of Shakespeare’s Globe theatre, on the stage just as was done in period. Delight the audience, or suffer their jeers, as you demonstrate your skill and knowledge of the Art of Defense of all to see.

The Playing of the Prizes will be held on Friday, October 8th at the Castle Garriot site where the melees will also be held. The Playing of the Prizes will begin at 10am in the Curtain Theatre and continue until 4pm or all of the Prizes have been fought. If there is time after all of the Prizes have been fought, we will be able to have open free play on the stage of the theatre.

In order to assure that all those who wish to play Prizes at the event are able to, the Prizes will be run on a schedule. This schedule will allow each Prize Player to have the stage for 30 minute blocks and they will be able to fight up to three separate fighter in two weapons styles each. This means that each Prize Player may have up to a total of 6 fights in his allotted time slot. This should allow plenty of time for all of the fighters to participate and still allow for plenty of fighting.

In order to be placed on the schedule all you need to do is email me at prize@kwar.swordworks.org and request a 30 minute time slot between 10am and 3:30pm. The hour between 12-1pm is not available due to lunch being held in the theatre, but some entertainment on the stage will be provided for your amusement. Scheduling will be done on a first come – first served basis. If you have specific time requirements due to travel and arrival times, please schedule early to ensure you get the time you need.

This Playing of the Prizes will be a great experience that will only be made better by those participating. In period the Playing of Prizes was a cause for parades and celebration. Please feel free to include as much pomp and circumstance in your Prizes as you would like. Some basic ideas would be: handbills, banners, fliers, heralds, musicians, ect… If you have any ideas or questions about what you would like to do, please feel free to email me at this address.

Think about this, when is the next time you will be able to fence in a period theatre on a stage with spectators?

In Service to Crown and Kingdom,
Benedict Ashton, WSA
prize@kwar.swordworks.org

Several views of The Curtain Theatre
Stage Right		Stage Left