ANST - Documentation (was Brewing competition results...)

[Spatsman at aol.com]

In a message dated 2/15/99 12:24:53 PM Central Standard Time, pat at adtelusa.com
writes:

<< You are all very lucky in this whether you wish to believe it or not.  Your
 Laurellate here is extremely interested in what you as a populous think.  I
 can safely say that the topic has come up to me on every opportunity that
 I've spoken with a Laurel.  I realize that there can be  a specter of "Peer
 Fear" out there, but all the Laurel's I've spoken too really do like
 constructive input from the populous.  After all, in many cases, the
 populous are the people in the trenches.  If this is an issue for everyone,
 let us know--the worst that can happen is that we all run away screaming
 while pulling out hair out  :)
 
 Petruccio
  >>
Okay,....
A story, about a story.
It was Gulf Wars, 3 years ago, and I was to enter the Bardic competition with
a story. I arrived just as the Trimarian talent began.
They would stand, clear their throats, and speak of the poetic form they were
about to present. As they went into a lengthy explanation of stress, rhyme and
meter, they handed out stapled sheets of documentation to the judges and the
audience.
They had many copies.
They proceeded to hold forth on the period elements of the poem, how accurate
the plot structure was, the faithfulness of the symbols and images used, and
the fashion of the climax.
After telling us everything about the poem, including the plot, they presented
the poem to the audience.
We were ready for them...we knew the plot!
Heck, we even knew the ending!
My response to this was shock, pure and simple. It seemed to me that
entertainment value had totally been eradicated for the sake of appearing
accurate to the finest detail.
When my turn to perform came, I quietly informed the judges that I was about
to give them a story. I told them the style and subject matter were accurate
for the time period I was representing. This done, I turned to the audience
and began a story in a conversational tone.
The Trimarians were shocked, pure and simple.
They were a talented bunch, though, and seemed to strain beneath the burden of
documentation. It cramped their style.
I threw caution to the wind, trusting the judges to respond in honesty...
"Fionnagan, you're a god of words! You deserve many virgin love-slaves!"
                                 OR
"Fionnagan, who introduced you to the Society? Introduce me, that I may hurt
him."
I was less then concerned about the documentation, and I felt that lack the
rest of the night.
I left that competition wondering about the middle-ground, that place where
the audience wipes tears of enchantment from their eyes and mutters,
"Obviously a student of the Ulster Cycle school of characterization..."
I don't know where it is.
Maybe the true artist never finds it, maybe it's the looking that counts.
Maybe there are some practical solutions.
Anyone?
~HL Fionnagan
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