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Persona Play
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Creating a persona and interacting in a period fashion is a key part of bringing the SCA dream alive. Acting like we are medieval people -- instead of merely being our modern selves in medieval costumes -- makes our events more like stepping back in time.
It's not very hard to get into persona at an SCA event. You just have to replace modern terms and try to engage others with their persona stories.
Contents
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Accepting That Everyone Is From Different Eras and Places
Some people assert that persona play is impossible in the SCA because people choose personas from different times and geographic locations that would never have met. The theory goes: "It's not like a Renaissance faire where everyone recreates one specific year."
No, it's not like that, but so what? As long as people don't draw unnecessary attention to the differences, we can all get along just fine in persona. If you don't freak out because, omg, you're a Flemish merchant standing next to a 16th-century Venetian courtesan and the king is a Viking, well, you'll be fine.
Consider this: A person from 12th-century Normandy wouldn't know what a person from 14th-century Florence looks like (or that a certain style of dress and demeanor indicates one is from 14th-century Florence). All each person would know is that the other is "different" and thus probably a foreigner.
Once you accept the differences and simply get past them, persona play is a lot easier!
As said in Concerning Consistency or Ignorance is Bliss from "Cariadoc's Miscellany" by Cariadoc of the Bow (David Friedman):
How, it is asked, can one function as a medieval person at an event? Time travel is not a medieval idea, so how can one medieval person interact with others from hundreds of years before and after his time? ... What is wrong with all of these questions is that they confuse what I know with what my persona knows. ...
David knows that the gentleman in the starched ruff is from the 16th century. Cariadoc knows, having been told, that the gentleman is from a Frankish tribe called the English. Cariadoc also knows that, like most other Franks, the gentleman in question does not face towards Mecca to pray, does not wear a turban, and does wear funny clothes. None of that is in any way inconsistent with what Cariadoc knows of the world -- foreigners are like that.
Avoiding Modernisms and SCA-isms
Obviously, people living before 1600 didn't have cell phones, cars, and computers, and they didn't talk about TV shows or sing rock music. It's easy enough to just avoid these topics at SCA events.
What may be harder is to avoid using uniquely SCA terms that aren't historical and actually draw more attention to modern things than not. For example, calling the entry gate for an event as "troll." Why not simply call it "the gate"? Gates of various sorts existed throughout our period, and their function was similar to that of an SCA event's gate.
Making Small Talk
Medieval people talked about many of the same everyday things we do today: the weather, the event they were currently at, the food and drink being served, what people were wearing, etc. It's easier than you think to turn modern small talk into a medieval facsimile by glossing over a few incongruities (such as everyone being from different eras) and by adding little details relevant to your persona. Also, you can ask questions that open up the conversation to your chatmates' personas.
For example, on a hot summer day at a camping event, a Viking man might exclaim, "This heat makes me pine for the cool winds coming off the fjords!" And looking at a fellow in heavy Tudor garb, he might ask: "And you, good man, you are not dressed for this weather. Is it much cooler in your country?"
To which the Tudor gent might say, "Ah yes, it has been quite chill in London these days – in fact, the Thames froze over last winter. M'lord, let us pour a drink for respite." Then the two men might compare their favorite ales from their homelands or share drinking tales.
Meals are another excellent setting for persona small talk. Everyone has a built-in topic of conversation: food and drink. You can praise (or critique) the meal. You can compare the taste and cooking methods to what is common in your homeland. You can discuss table manners and food-related customs of your various lands as you eat in period fashion. Food conversation might lead to talk of occupations -- are you a farmer or land-owner? Do you have livestock? Are you a brewer or baker?
Ask questions of your dining companions as you make comments yourself so that everyone at the table is engaged.
Finding Things to Talk About in Persona
If you've run out of small talk about the weather, the food, or the surroundings, another easy thing to talk about in persona is ... well, what you usually talk about. Except minus anything modern. Take everyday anecdotes and remove the 21st-century details. Or turn memories (family stories, school events, work experiences, even SCA events and A&S projects) into historical tales.
Instead of swapping "it happened one time at Pennsic" stories, reframe the same events as what happened during the Hundred Years War. Or that time your brother flipped over his bike turns into him getting unhorsed. Or how long you spent creating your latest costume masterpiece becomes how many times you browbeat the tailor to get the right fit and how difficult it was to procure silks from China.
Precise historical accuracy is not always the point. If you have researched a specific topic, definitely use that information. But some things are fairly easy to bluff and others are somewhat universal, such as familial relationships and warring conflicts.
Incorporating SCA Activities Into Persona
You may find it useful to create an in-period reason for why you are at an SCA event. Camping (especially as done in the SCA) was not common in the medieval period except during wars. For SCA wars, this is simple to explain away.
But many more SCA events are tourneys or feasts. How about considering a tourney as a medieval fair or festival? The pre-1600 European calendar was filled with festival days, plus there were traditional fairs for trading livestock and goods. At such events, entertainments could be held, and perhaps this might include a joust or other martial arts. Thus, you can work a Crown or Coronet tourney into period conversation.
Likewise, feasts are common celebratory occasions that would have also happened in period. In addition to talking about it like you would a meal, you can talk about the specific occasion (an investiture, a holiday).
When talking about SCA topics in persona, the trick is to avoid speaking as a modern person. Leave out details that your persona wouldn't know and forget modern gossip. Instead, why not try comparing SCA people favorably to historical characters? That could make for an entertaining conversation.
Dealing With Others Who Talk Modernly
Unfortunately, friends or acquaintances may come up to you at an SCA event and harsh your medieval mellow by talking about modern subjects. But you have several in-persona options for dealing with this:
Remembering That Persona Matters
Speaking and acting in period is an active art much like historical costume or cooking or fighting. Persona play takes historical study to another level within the Society.
Unlike some of the arts, anyone can play in period without a great deal of study first. Similar to fighting, it takes more practice than book-learning. The more you do it, the easier it becomes. When you add historical study, of course, persona play gets richer, more interesting, and has many more options.
Resources
Talking in Persona -- Five easy tips for talking in period.
Staying in Persona and Other Things: An Opinion in "Cariadoc's Miscellany" by Cariadoc of the Bow (David Friedman)
Concerning Consistency or Ignorance Is Bliss in "Cariadoc's Miscellany" by Cariadoc of the Bow (David Friedman)
Building a Persona in "Stefan's Florilegium" by Pamela Hewitt the Harper (Pamela Keightley Hughes)
Persona in the Current Middle Ages: Guidelines to Persona Play in "Stefan's Florilegium" by Mistress Willow de Wisp, Lion of Ansteorra (Lanpheir Taylor)
Persona Play: A Suggestion for the Dream in "Stefan's Florilegium" by THL Caitlin Christiana Wintour (Christine Taylor)
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