No tempest spilled over the teacup during Monday’s town council meeting when Sultana Education Foundation President Drew McMullen explained the organization’s requirement to alter the mock fight and dunking of redcoats during the yearly Tea Party Festival.
In fact, it all ended positively. Not a sword in sight.
Bottom line: the staged boarding of the Sultana, the fight, and tossing of tea will continue, but without the traditional ejection of King George’s men into the briny deep.
McMullen was asked by Tea Party Chair Sabine Harvey to present the town council with updated information regarding Sultana’s change in Sultana policies—required by the organization’s insurance company—to disallow anyone from jumping off the ship into the river.
The Sultana Director described the avenues he pursued with the organization’s insurance company to find out if there was any way to continue having people ejected from the boat into the river.
He said that the cost of additional insurance is prohibitive, even if accepted by the underwriting reviewers, and waivers are not guarantee enough to protect Sultana from litigation if someone get hurt, or worse.
“It’s possible we could lose everything we have accomplished,” he said.
In good faith, McMullen offered an alternative scenario for the Tea Party Committee to consider—docking Sultana at the High Street public dock, staging the boarding of the ship and then orchestrating a “walking off the plank” off the dock.
“We want to do anything the Tea Party Committee wants to do given this new requirement,” McMullen said.
Clerk of the Circuit Court for Kent County and previous Tea Party president, Mark Mumford, noted that the docking of Sultana would strategically alter the drama by obstructing viewers on a crowded dock from seeing the whole ship. He urged Sultana and Tea Party members to keep the mock raid on the ship the same as it has always been.
“Why reinvent the wheel?,” he asked. “Do everything the way we have done, have the mock fight and throwing of tea and continue the central part of the tradition with Sultana anchored in the river.”
Butch Clark, a 40-year member of Tea Party committees and 2011 grand marshal, also spoke to losing the “sight lines” if the Sultana is docked up against a crowd of people. Years of working with countless theatre productions taught Clark to optimize presentations so that everyone can see.
Consideration of throwing the “redcoats” off the dock were eventually dismissed in favor of keeping the location of the Sultana anchored in its traditional setting. And, of course, chucking bales of tea into the river.
With only a few days until Tea Party, the festival committee will convene via email to finalize the staging of the Sultana event.
Elizabeth Hill says
Another option would be to toss non-human dummies into the water. You could get the same effect without putting real folks in the River. Just an idea.
Macgill James says
What a shame. The defeat of the Redcoats and their being tossed off the ship always got a huge cheer from the crowd. Back about twenty-five years ago when the Echo Hill Gang ran the show they ran short Redcoats at the last minute and asked Randy Capel and me to fill in. We had a great time stirring up the crowd with taunts and gibes and when the vessel was boarded we put up a good fight. More rebelious Colonists got wet than had planned to, but eventually we got our due and were pitched in. What a shame the re-enactment will now be watered down…