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The “Pageant” originally conceived for the Commemoration |
The Stamp Act Protests
Pageant was, unfortunately, over-ambitious for the time available for its
creation. It essayed a staged 40-minute extravaganza
involving some two dozen costumed performers, lighting, audio effects and
amplification … and the co-operation of the authorities managing the Alexander
Hamilton U.S. Custom House. (Hmm, was it remotely realistic to hope
for the cooperation of government bureaucrats in the celebration of a historic
tax protest?) Nonetheless, several
volunteer participants considered that it conveyed the issues and the drama of
the original event.
Script of the Stamp Act Protests Pageant
As an alternative to
the pageant, we prepared “chanteys” to involve costumed performers and the
audience, in imitation of contemporary protests and demonstrations.
Using Google SketchUp, I drafted some
life-sized props for the pageant—fun but, again, over-ambitious for the
available time-frame.
The governor’s stolen carriage was
intended to be a stage flat, with a hole where the door’s window was, through
which the “Punch and Judy” show. Helping to carry the flat, invisible to the
audience, would be the puppeteers and the vocalists.
The coffin was to be three-dimensional,
made of quarter-inch plywood; it would be bedecked with flowers and black
bunting.
[Double-click the image for full-size.]
