Trinity Members Celebrate With A Masque

Trinity Episcopal Church celebrated in grand fashion this year the conclusion of Epiphany, which is the season preceding Lent. More than 150 people attended a Medieval Masque party using historical facts, decorations and information from medieval pilgrimages as the theme.

A masque (pronounced “mask” or “mahsk”) was an elaborate form of entertainment presented at European courts, reaching its height in England during the early 1600s. English masques combined dancing, drama, music, and poetry with lavish sets and costumes, often to convey a moral message.

Masques were presented as part of banquets to honor visiting royalty or to celebrate such events as a coronation, holiday, or wedding.

The Trinity Masque included a social hour with appetizers served by a waitstaff of 15 high school students, all members of Trinity, who will be going on a pilgrimage this summer to the Grand Tetons in Wyoming. The feast food was cooked in the Trinity kitchens by parishioners Martha Galie and Karen White and served family-style by the pilgrims.

A large portion of the parish attended dressed in costume or wearing feathered masks. The evening was Trinity’s annual intergenerational event, and truly lived up to its billing. The room was decorated using hundreds of medieval heraldry banners made by the church school children.

There were torches that really flickered, and stone pillars draped with satin to give the effect of being in a medieval castle. Ivy was on every surface possible, and the centerpieces were made of real fruit for the finishing touch.

The highlight of the evening was the appointing of a king and queen with royal court. Colleen McMorran, Pete Anderau, Michelle Zarifis, and Jeffrey Haylon were chosen to be the royalty for the evening. Guests then entertained themselves with a variety show of many talents.

Performers included the Trinity Choristers children’s choirs, Trinity Adult Choir, several period soloists who acted as minstrels, a jester who juggled and made balloon animals, two 9-year-old Irish folk dancers, and a Scottish dance troupe.

The seventh and eighth grade classes prepared and presented an authentic medieval mumming play, which included a five-headed dragon, St George, dancers, drummers, and an original song they composed. Ninth and tenth grade students sang “Here Comes the Sun” with guitar accompaniment by member Zach Gordon. Several other soloists, from teens to senior citizens, also performed.

The grand finale was a full-cast rendition of Camelot rewritten with wording about Trinity Church.