Og in tights.

[oggbashan]

On Sunday Og makes his appearance in public as King Henry VIII at the Dover Pageant:

Dover Pageant 2005

The event will be opened by the Lord Warden of the Cinque Ports and then the flags of the 44 towns around the world called Dover will be paraded through the grounds of the medieval Dover Priory. After that...

Og will appear as King Henry VIII accompanied by his Queen (and first and only wife at this time), his illegitimate son and a crowd of Ladies in Waiting. Once the King and Queen are seated on their thrones a specially commissioned dance of River Nymphs will dance to entertain their Majesties.

(That is what actually happened in Dover before Henry VIII and his court crossed the Channel to meet King Francis I of France at the Field of the Cloth of Gold)

Unfortunately for Og, the River Nymphs he was promised have diminished to one River Nymph who will dance her aquatic serenade if they can find the music in time. If not, the River Nymph will extemporise to whatever music they can find by tomorrow afternoon.

After the performance which lasts about three minutes depending on what music is available, The King and Queen will clap politely, rise and process off the greensward through the medieval gate they use for their entrance.

That's it. That's all I do. Walk on, sit down, watch a dance, clap, walk off.

The one and only rehearsal was today. My Ladies in Waiting were all in modern costume except one who was wearing a Regency Costume and a 1920s cloche hat. My Queen was splendidly attired in black and silver. I wore my cake and robe over combat trousers. For some reason we were followed by a hooded monk whispering into a microphone and surreptitiously smoking a rolled cigarette. The River Nymph wore jeans and a sweatshirt and danced beside the thrones instead of in front of them because the thrones were too far forward. I didn't see half of her performance but I had seen her earlier when she rehearsed without music.

Part of my court was told to arrive for rehearsal at 1630. They arrived at 1620 to find that the rehearsal had taken place at 1610. The Dover Pageant is like that.

My court vanished to change or not into costume for their next scenes whenever they were to happen. I drove away, shaking my head. This Pageant will set new standards of...

I will describe what happens if I survive.

Og

 

[Liar]

That's it. That's all I do. Walk on, sit down, watch a dance, clap, walk off.

All the more pressure on you to not screw it up.

Good luck, and bring back pictures.

#L

 

[Hulder]

The one and only rehearsal was today. My Ladies in Waiting were all in modern costume except one who was wearing a Regency Costume and a 1920s cloche hat. My Queen was splendidly attired in black and silver. I wore my cake and robe over combat trousers. For some reason we were followed by a hooded monk whispering into a microphone and surreptitiously smoking a rolled cigarette. The River Nymph wore jeans and a sweatshirt and danced beside the thrones instead of in front of them because the thrones were too far forward. I didn't see half of her performance but I had seen her earlier when she rehearsed without music.

Part of my court was told to arrive for rehearsal at 1630. They arrived at 1620 to find that the rehearsal had taken place at 1610. The Dover Pageant is like that.

http://witchcraft.net/html/emoticons/hysteric.gif
I feel for you! Good luck, i'm sure it will all come together in the end. It usually does.

Hugs!
http://witchcraft.net/html/emoticons/knight.gif

 

[Guest]

Will you leer suggestively at the River Nymph(s)?

(I would think that would be part of the production!)

Have a terrific time - break a leg!

And yes - pictures, please!

 

[Rumple Foreskin]

Og in tights. For some reason, this quote seems appropriate.

This highway leads to the shadowy tip of reality:
You're on a through route to the land of the different, the bizarre, the unexplainable...
Go as far as you like on this road.
Its limits are only those of mind itself.
Ladies and Gentlemen, you're entering the wondrous dimension of imagination.
Next stop....The Twilight Zone.

Break a leg, Og.

Rumple Foreskin

 

[McKenna]

<snip>

I will describe what happens if I survive.

Well? Don't leave us in suspense!

 

[ChilledVodka III]

King Henry VIII

CVIII is cooler.

 

[moonlight elf]

Good Luck Og

and have a blast!

 

[oggbashan]

Coulldn't take my own photos because a camera doesn't go with the image and I was 'on show' most of the time.

I should have some photos by the weekend.

Og

 

[Hulder]

Cool, looking forward to seeing them. Zoom in on the tights.

 

[Lisa Denton]

Break a leg and watch out for spiders tryin to crawl into your tights, Og!!!!!!

 

[Honey123]

Yes...continued wishes of breaking a leg...just watch out for your understudy!!

 

[oggbashan]

Yes...continued wishes of breaking a leg...just watch out for your understudy!!

Understudy? There is no such person for King Henry VIII.

The Dover Pageant is a strictly amateur event. No one gets paid and we usually provide our own costumes. There is only one rehearsal before the actual event and what happens depends on who turns up.

I was supposed to be King Henry visiting Dover with his first and only wife Catherine of Aragon just before crossing to France for the meeting with King Francis 1 of France at the Field of the Cloth of Gold.

If so, I should have been in my early 20s and Catherine was older than I. I am not in my early 20s. I am much older than the lady playing Catherine, whom I met for the first time in 3 years at the only rehearsal. I am actually in RL older than Henry was when he died.

I had to use stage makeup to colour my beard from white to ginger. 3 years ago - see AV - I coloured my beard only. That meant when I doffed my cake I showed my white hair.

This time I coloured beard and hair (and bald patch visible if you are taller than me or I am sitting down) and added ginger eyebrows. I was worried that it might rain because the make-up I use is water soluble. It didn't until about half an hour after the performance finished by which time I was driving the twenty miles back home still in make-up and costume. I had some odd looks from other drivers.

I am unusual in the Dover Pageant because I have only one role. Most have 2 or 3 roles. Catherine of Aragon was also a 1920s flapper who sang and danced 'The Black Bottom' before changing back to be Catherine for the final parade.

One of the Norman Kings had a family crisis between rehearsal and performance. Another was told - 'We need a King. Now. You'll do. Here's your crown. Walk on, sit down, walk off and then hand the crown back. You've plenty of time before your proper scene. (Consults notes) At least seven minutes. No one will notice that you are a King and then a courtier two hundred years on seven minutes later. You'll do it? Good. Here's your Queen. Good luck.'

The horse was the star. This year it was a smaller horse but he appeared in several centuries with different costumes from the mythical with King Arthur to a review of 1914 troops, and of course the final march past.

Three years ago it was a possibility that Henry VIII would arrive on THE horse, then a shire horse, but there wasn't time for the horse's costume to be changed.

My court was interesting. Apart from Catherine, I was followed by King Henry's illegitimate son (actually the real son of the lady playing Catherine of Aragon), Princesses Mary and Elizabeth who shouldn't have been born at that time, and assorted small girls and BOYS who were supposed to be my children. If I had had all these BOYS I wouldn't have needed to divorce Catherine but historical accuracy is not a major strength of The Pageant...

Three years ago I was accompanied by an elderly gentleman who was a direct descendent of King Henry VIII's treasurer. He wasn't around this time. He had been frail three years ago.

The young lady playing Princess Elizabeth was very dismissive of Henry VIII. "We did the Tudors at school LAST YEAR. This year it's the Stuarts. Henry was a BAD MAN." She (all of 10 years old) didn't elaborate. I was performing among the ruins of Dover's Priory that Henry had abolished. It was embarrassing to see the broken masonry and know that I was responsible. However Dover appreciated Henry. He built fortifications and improved their harbour.

Catherine of Aragon was more forthright. She claimed that she had given Henry syphilis, having caught it from her husband while married to Henry's older brother who was even more promiscuous than Henry (despite the Church being told that Catherine's previous marriage had not been consummated) and that therefore Catherine was responsible for Henry's decline and death...

Catherine's real son, playing my illegitimate son, wanted to know why I hadn't made him legitimate and saved myself all the bother of creating the Church of England. I had to remind myself that all I was doing was playing a walk-on part. Too many people seemed to think I actually WAS Henry.

Og

 

[kendo1]

Methinks you'll always be our 'enry.

 

[oggbashan]

A picture is worth...

These are the official photos:

Og on stage

I look properly grumpy. The 'throne' was a school chair too small for my bulk and very difficult for me to sit on with a damaged back.

Catherine of Aragon looks more like her role.

Og

 

[McKenna]

Grumpy or not, you make an excellent King Henry VIII.

Thanks for sharing the photos.

 

[R. Richard]

I was supposed to be King Henry visiting Dover with his first and only wife Catherine of Aragon just before crossing to France for the meeting with King Francis 1 of France at the Field of the Cloth of Gold.

If so, I should have been in my early 20s and Catherine was older than I. I am not in my early 20s. I am much older than the lady playing Catherine, whom I met for the first time in 3 years at the only rehearsal. I am actually in RL older than Henry was when he died.

Og:
Since you have done so well as Henry VIII and actually survived longer than he did, have you thought of taking on the job permanently? The Royals you have now are making a mess of it; right berks!

 

[TxRad]

I look properly grumpy.

Og

Why did a troop of dwarfs just tramp through my mind???

Good Show Og it looked like it was a fun time had by all....

 

[dr_mabeuse]

I don't know, Og. You look suitably kingly to me.

Congratulations!

 

[Guest]

These are the official photos:

Og on stage

I look properly grumpy. The 'throne' was a school chair too small for my bulk and very difficult for me to sit on with a damaged back.

Catherine of Aragon looks more like her role.

Og

Thank you for sharing those, King Og.

Good show!

(It's good to be da king!)