On the conducting of entertainments:

	being an excerpt from the forthcoming "The Book of the Patron"
	(c) 1998, Oakhart Press

Performance is the sharing of experience.  Performance requires venue and
an appropriate arena. Venue is the guarantee of an audience.  Arena is the
location where the performance takes place. While many types of performances
can be accomplished with minimal arena (storytelling, poetic recitation,
etc), no performance can be accomplished without a venue.

The creation of venue is the job of the patron.  The patron guarantees an
audience for the performance.  This can take many forms from sponsoring
and announcing a public entertainment, to simply requesting a song or
story while standing in line waiting for feast.

When a performer has no patron they must act as their own patron.  This is
called busking.  One special form of busking occurs when the performers
stand as patrons for each other.  This is frequently called a bardic
circle.  

Every performance has a patron, whether it be a single individual, or a
group of people acting together.  When a group of people are acting
together as a patron, it is usually advisable for them to appoint someone
to speak on their behalf.  This person may be titled the emcee, host,
herald, or such other name as suits the occasion, or may simply fulfill
the function without special title. 

If a patron wishes to sponsor an entertainment, they should announce it in
advance, so that an audience may gather to hear it.  If it is an open
entertainment (for any performer who would come) then this should be
sufficiently in advance that the performers will have time to prepare
appropriate material. The announcement should state what kind of material
is requested or that it is simply "open to hear anything on any subject". 

	[Note for performers that in places where the custom is that
	most/all circles are "open subject," the announcement may omit
	this point -- it is always polite to enquire if you are not sure
	if your piece will be acceptable].

It is the duty of the patron to request the performance.  If a circle or
other entertainment is to be conducted, it is the duty of the patron to
open the circle, either by performing or requesting the first performance.
The patron sets the rules for how performances will follow each other,
whether it is "free for all," "pass the lantern," "bear pit," "by
request," or some other method.

Depending on the method chosen, and the community of performers present it
may or may not be necessary for the patron to exercize active control of
the circle subsequent to the start, however it is the patron's
responsibility to step in or make requests as appropriate to keep the
circle going, and if time or space limitations require it, to close it at
the end.

A good patron is one who is able to encourage performance effectively. 
The art of the patron is thus to set the rules for performance of the
entertainment in such a way that they do not become tedious to the
performers or the audience or detrimental to the performances.

The patron is also a performer.  One who acts as a patron should strive 
to give the best performance they can, in order to better encourage
excellence from the persons performing for them.