Before the Tudor Masque, Richard York

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You're going to be in my Masque Workshop -
What to expect, & What to look for.

	First, Have you learned the songs? The words and music are in the resource pack, and there's an audio cassette to help too. You should at least be learning "Fortune my Foe" and "The Hunt is Up." Secondly, have you prepared clothes? They need not be complicated. If they are, well done. If not, still well done! There are suggestions in my resource pack.
On The Day You are going to meet a Tudor travelling musician called Diccen York. Diccen is one of the nicknames given to Richard in Tudor times. You'll also notice he usually calls King Henry, King Harry. This was quite normal at the time.
	LISTEN: Does he talk English in the way you or I normally do? If not, why not? You'll fnd that after a time it's quite easy to follow. While he's teaching you to perform the masque, listen to everything carefully - you may well pick up some Tudor gossip, opinions, ways of thinking, and lots of background information. Everything Diccen says is based on real Tudor information, as far as possible. ... but bear in mind that Diccen thinks it's 1546, so as far as he knows, anything after that is in the future. He says things which he in 1546 thinks are true, even if we now know that they aren't. Confused? If someone told a man of Henry VIII's time that Elizabeth would become Queen and never get married, he'd be very surprised. If you told him that about 100 years later, the King of England would be executed by Parliament, he'd probably have you locked up for treason!
WATCH: Look at his clothes, his shoes and personal belongings; look at his instruments, at any artefacts he brings. Again, these are as far as possible based on real Tudor things. If the original things aren't there any more, then they're based on pictures, carvings, descriptions, and so on; again, as far as possible.

With Diccen's talk, his belongings, what he teaches you and his behaviour, there is a lot of information for you, if you're a good detective; far more than there is possibly time to tell you about. See how much you can pick up.

Listen to everything carefully... spot

... Diccon hears gossip on his travels, and may be able to tell you about things going on:for example, if it's 1546, how much do people know about Henry VIII's health?
He was in fact very ill, and because his son Edward was only nine years old, Henry's chief ministers were very worried about what would happen when Henry died. They were really struggling to make sure that they or their friends would be the ones to be his advisors - in the case of a nine-year old king, that would mean they really got to rule the country. At the same time, they were trying desperately hard not to let people know just how ill the King was, in case too many people started plotting, knowing he was too weak to do much about it.

Don't be afraid to ask questions, but remember that the reply will come as if from a 1546 way of thinking.

And if you're like a very large number of people who have performed this masque before you, you can also enjoy yourself a lot at the same time.
I'm very grateful to Edward Buehler for letting me use material from his site about Tudor Portraits. It's worth a visit, at http://www.tudor-portraits.com/

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You're going to be in my Masque Workshop - What to expect, & What to look for.

On The Day

LISTEN:

WATCH:

You're going to be in my Masque Workshop -
What to expect, & What to look for.