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About Master
Lorcan Dracontius
Lorcan was born sometime in the
late 12th century Drogheda, in what was to become the Pale of
Ireland. As he was a third son the family decided that he would enter the church
as a profession. While the young Lorcan had scholastic talents he had more of an
interest in barding than priesting. As the Norman troops approached his home
village during the invasion there was a traveling troop of minstrels performing
a Mysterie for one of the church festivals. In the confusion of the attack,
Lorcan ran off with the company. Eventually they made their way to England. Over
the years Lorcan rose to become the troops "captain."
The company roamed the
Angevian empire performing as needed using a pageant wagon as a stage.
While the standard fare of the company was religious passion mysterie, it has run afoul of local authorities from time to time
because of "special productions"
satirizing both them and corruption in the church. It was after one such
production that Lorcan deemed it appropriate to leave the company and go on
crusade.
It was while on
crusade that he came to the attention of the King. At first the
services were small. Arranging feasts, acting as liaison to the
Royal Cousins. Then as an Ambassador and Exchequer to part of the
Kingdom. These things resulted in his being awarded arms of
"Per Fess Embattled,
Argent and Azure, A Dragon’s Head Couped Vert and A Book Argent."
(See coronet on home page.)
His world
changed forever one night while passing through a small Middle Eastern
village. While dining he became entranced with a dancer named Lady
Scheherazde. She was also well known to Their Majesties for her many
good works and they soon became good friends . Of a sudden the Crown needed the services of
trusted servants in a far off and exotic land known as Bhakail and turned
to them both. So it was, that
on a sweltering day in August, did the third son of a minor Irish noble
suddenly find himself Baron of Bhakail.
Twenty seasons
passed and the barony prospered; the harvests were plentiful and the
populace grew. Bhakail flourished in harmony with its neighbors and
Lorcan along with it. But over time Lorcan became restless for
something was missing. Then on a spring day there appeared members
of his old theater company who argued for his return to the stage.
And this he realized was what was lacking.
Late into many nights
he planned a new future and finally, with the King's permission, he bid farewell
and returned to the road. There you will find him mounting masquerades
medieval where the players tell of great deeds. See them out in your
travels! The fare, both old and new, will make you think, laugh and cry,
but all will entertain.
About
John St. Dennis
John lives in Philadelphia,
Pennsylvania, USA, and is the Sr. Business Applications Developer for
Quaker Chemical Corporation, a global specialty chemical company. His systems
are being used all over the world. His programming specialties include SAS,
Microsoft Access, and most recently
dotNet and vb.net. In 1998 he was
part of the project team that resulted in Quaker being awarded the SAS
Enterprise Computing Award. Prior to 1996 John held a wide variety of management
positions in the accounting areas of the US subsidiary of a major industrial gas
company. A graduate of Fairleigh Dickinson University, John also donates time to
various non-profit organizations in the Philadelphia region.
He is a past President,
Treasurer, and Board member of Plays and Players Theater. Plays and Players,
founded in 1911, is the oldest continuously producing Community Theater in the
United States. The theater company owns a historically certified theater in
Center City, Philadelphia.
John
is no stranger to the
performing side of the stage having been active in both adult and children's
theater. As an actor he has played a wide range of characters including Socrates
"Barefoot in Athens", Van Daan "Diary of Anne Frank", Jon
the Witchboy "Dark of the Moon", Farmer McGreggor "Peter
Rabbit", Scarecrow "Wizard of Oz" and his favorite, Minster Han
in "Emperor's New Clothes." Directorial credits include Tennessee
William's "Period of Adjustment", the Philadelphia premiere of Lanford
Wilson's "Talley & Son", "Macbeth", "The Lion
in Winter", and numerous children's plays. As a
playwright his work includes the trilogy "A Dragon Named Harold",
"Ruby of Secrets", "St. Mark's Place", and "Dark
Corners."
His principal recreation is as
a member of the Society for Creative Anachronism, or SCA. The SCA is a
non-profit, educational association, dedicated to reenacting both the Medieval
and Renaissance periods of history with worldwide branches centered in North
America, Europe, Asia, and the Pacific Rim. He
has been Exchequer, or Treasurer, for both the Barony of Bhakail (Philadephia
branch) and the Southern Region of the "East Kingdom" and recently
finished serving as Baron of Bhakail. Currently his is artistic director
of "The Masquerade Medieval" which is a theater company based in the
SCA specializing in producing both period plays and plays about period.
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