Reenactors, fans turn out for annual fair in Salem
By
Taryn Plumb |
GLOBE CORRESPONDENT
JULY
31, 2014
Jessica Rinaldi/Globe Staff
SALEM
— Their stories were numerous and terrifying. They robbed,
murdered, bullied, and intimidated their way up and down the Atlantic
Coast, and — in the end — usually met their own grim deaths.
There
was the Boston pirate Rachel Wall, who, along with her husband,
George, repeatedly feigned distress in a stolen boat off the Isles of
Shoals, and then robbed and killed would-be rescuers.
Ruthless
English pirate William Fly became infamous for castigating the
hangman at his execution near Charlestown Bridge, undoing and
properly tying the noose that was to go around his own neck.
“There
were actual pirates who plundered these shores,” said historical
reenactor C.J. Landram of Saugus. “It’s fascinating when you
realize just how many were here in the golden age of piracy.”
Just
last weekend, a band of buccaneers returned to seize Salem’s Forest
River Park and
exact revenge as part of the 10th annual New
England Pirate Faire.
About 1,300 revelers turned out over the two-day event.
Fittingly
held among the thatched roof cottages and rambling trails traced with
roots at the 1630 Salem
Pioneer Village,
it was a celebration of the swashbuckling, the intrigue, and the
menace of pirates, and featured an overarching story line played out
in several acts with duels, cannon fire, period music, and general
merriment.
“I
love their sense of adventure,” said David Stickney, a Revere
resident who produces the pirate fair with his brother, Paul, through
Pastimes Entertainment. “They were freebooters, free men of the
sea.”
Tall
and commanding, David Stickney played the part of Peter Pan nemesis
Captain Hook, dressed in a long red coat, a gold earring in his left
ear, thin glasses framing his eyes, and the notorious hook taking the
place of his left hand.
“Pirates
offer that freedom and adventure that people really desire,” he
said.
Featuring
15 core cast members — including the infamous Calico Jack and
Blackbeard — the event’s theme was “The
Revenge of Red-Handed Kate,” a
tale written by Paul Stickney that played out in six acts. Just as
the title character was to be married, pirates slaughtered her family
and husband-to-be. Distraught and outraged, Kate then learned
pirating skills to repay the four cruel captains who ruined her life.
Bevin
Ayers of Jamaica Plain played the vengeful Kate, dressed in a striped
piratical “kilted up” skirt, corset, and bodice. She boasted that
it was her first time fighting with a sword.
“Everyone’s
like ‘Yay, pirates,’ ” said Ayers, a nanny by trade who
participates in numerous reenactor fairs. “No, pirates were bad.
They would steal, pillage, take what they wanted.”
She
laughed, “Not that it’s not fun to be a pirate.”
Nearby,
musicians were leading families and visitors fitting the era (classic
pirates were most active from the 1680s to the 1730s, according to
Stickney) in a sing-along. There were women in bodices, men in long
coats, feathers tucked into caps, jingling coins on gypsy dresses,
greetings of “Ahoy, mate!”
Little
boys wielded cardboard swords and shields, families posed for
pictures in a gibbet and stocks, and Captain Jack Sparrow, the
quick-quipping, flamboyant character made famous by Johnny Depp in
the “Pirates of the Caribbean” movies, roved through the crowd.
“I
was just going for the female captain look,” said visitor Simone
Phillips of Waltham, dressed in a dark coat and pants, curly black
hair wrangled beneath a brown cap.
Adopting
the pirate name Tessa Rose for the day, Phillips said, “I think the
best part is being inside this neat little village. And the back
story is incredible.”
Landram,
meanwhile, was playing the part of Captain Henry Morgan while
overseeing a costume contest.
“Samantha
the Bounty,” he said to a small crowd, presenting contestant
Samantha Fadden, a Nashua resident dressed in a corset and red,
flowing dress. He corrected himself, to titters from the crowd, “I
mean, of
the
Bounty.”
She
vamped a few steps back and forth, encouraged by David Stickney’s
shouts of “work the garment, sell it, intimidate it!”
“It’s
interesting to learn and research, bring these people to life in a
way that’s engaging and fun,” said Landram, wearing an impeccably
white top coat over a waistcoat, trousers, and tricorn hat sprouting
an ostrich feather, with a flourish of a red lace jabot and a
curlicue mustache.
Ultimately,
Stickney noted, the goal of the event is to educate and involve the
visitors.
Calling
interaction a “dying art,” he explained, “When people come, I
want them to feel they’ve walked into a movie, and they’re part
of the cast.”
©
2014 BOSTON GLOBE MEDIA PARTNERS, LLC
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