A Midsummer Knight's Adventure

Not many educational programs for kids involve suits of armor coming to life and attacking the presenter. But then, not many educational programs involve the people from Period Productions.

At 11 a.m. June 22, Period Productions brings its program “Arms & Armor through the Ages” to the . Members of the library’s Summer Reading Program, “A Midsummer Night’s Read,” will meet a medieval knight—or at least a reasonable simulation of one—up close and personal.

The production company’s web site encapsulates the nature of the event quite succinctly: “A Knight and his squire will provide a hands-on program covering medieval life, knighthood, arms and armor from the cave man to the fully armored knight. This program provides many opportunities for hands-on interaction between participants and the knight.”

Dave Bronovicki, a founding member of Period Productions, says this description gives only a taste of the event’s fun-filled nature.

“We’ll teach the kids and the other guests what it was like to be a knight in medieval times, what challenges he would come across, what tools he’d use to meet those challenges,” Bronovicki said. “Kids will get a chance to see chain mail, swords, armor, and other items from medieval life.”

The session will be led by Paul Adams, another founding member of Period Productions. Alongside the third co-founder, Jason Burford, Adams and Bronovicki are fully confident their group’s ability to keep kids riveted by their presentation. “We’ve been doing these shows for twelve years,” Bronovicki said. “There have been years we’ve done twenty of them, there are years we’ve done six, but we’ve easily done over 150 of these shows.”

After so many shows, the group has found the best approach is to keep the presentation fluid and evolving. “It comes across based on how (Paul) plays to the group. It develops differently each time we do it. There is certainly an element of some storytelling to it. He’ll start telling a story and when he gets to a certain point, that’s where he’ll show off some of his skills with the weapons and equipment. At that point it gets a little more interactive.”

One of the most memorable presentations Bronovicki recalls was inspired not by the material, but by the configuration of the auditorium in which the group found themselves.

“Jason and I did that one,” Bronovicki recalls. “We were at an elementary school. We started with Jason standing on the stage in his suit of armor.” As the kids entered the auditorium, they assumed the armor was simply that; an empty suit standing on stage.

But when Bronovicki came on stage to begin the event, Burford sprung into action. “All of a sudden the ‘mannequin’ turned on me and there was a quick fight on stage,” Bronovicki said with a laugh.

For members of the reading group, free tickets will be available at 10:30 am, 30 minutes before the program begins. The library advises that limited space is available, and recommends getting to the library early to ensure seating.

For more information on the Reading Club, call 732-390-6789 or visit www.ebpl.org/kids and click the “Summer Reading Club Midsummer Night’s Read” link. Registration for the program, which is open to readers and pre-readers, has already begun.

For more information on Period Productions, visit www.periodproductions.com.