Prithee, milords and miladies, hast thou fetched thy silken smallclothes and finest gowns? Hast thou brought thy doublet and jerkin from the wardrobe? Art thy jewels brought from the strongroom? Dost thou have thy tickets to the Yuletide Revels?Forsooth! Make haste to send a page to the James A. Garfield High School, forthwith (Or call Laura Young for reservations at this same castle; she be no dragon, but a worthy clerk). Get thee to it, gentlefolk. The date–December 15–approaches posthaste!
What be these Yuletide Revels?
Yuletide= Christmastide, the festival season from Christmas Eve (or December 6th, St. Nicholas’ feast day) until after New Years or Epiphany; the Christmas season.
Revels = uproarious festivities, merrymaking, taking great pleasure or delight.
The James A. Garfield music and drama departments take great pride in presenting, for your delectation and delight, a Medieval feast, a royal court, trumpeters and flautists, a harpist, a jester, musiks abounding and an evening of entertainments fit for royalty.
This has been made possible through an amazing donation of Renaissance/Medieval costumes and accoutrements from Hiram College which has moved on from its annual presentations by the Madrigal Singers. Garfield dramatists and musicians–vocal and instrumental– have taken up the challenge of bringing to the present day a taste of theatre and pageantry, tunes and performance which obtained currency during the fourteenth, fifteenth and sixteenth centuries… give or take a century or two.
The costumes have been repaired, revised, refurbished, replicated and refreshed by local master(or is it mistress?) seamstress, Cissie Raab, who can throw a stitch with the best of them. The feast is being catered by Guido’s; and the entertainment will be presented against the backdrop of castle walls miraculously appearing in the Iva Walker Auditorium. Hark to the trumpet fanfares. Do not miss the antics of the jester. Observe the strolling players. List to the dulcet tones of the diminutive harp player. Wave to your favorite lord or lady (a boisterous lot, to be sure) as they entertain from dungeon to turret in antique style.
Make ye merry, gentlefolk. It’s Yuletide…Revel!
