Welcome to The Known World Players
The Known World Players theater company, called KWP for short, specializes in producing quality plays either from or about the medieval and renaissance periods of history. We are part of a major nonprofit educational organization known as “The Society for Creative Anachronism” (SCA) which has members and branches all over the world. Major performances are held annually during our parent group’s major gathering the “Pennsic War” which attracts between 10,000 and 12,000 participants. Like our parent organization which is global in scope, the company and its members are centered in the United States and Canada. Everyone has developed a medieval persona, and the members are referred to by those persona names within this site.
The company was founded in 2001 by Mesterno Tyzes ‘Zsof’ Sofia with the goal of producing “period productions in a period manner.” The first show, a highly ambitious production of Shakespeare’s “As You Like It” was a success and was followed by productions as diversified as “Lysistrata” and an original filk musical, “Forbidden Pennsic.”
In 2006 Master Lorcan Dracontius founded “The Masquerade Medieval” theater company as a troupe that would complement KWP’s period productions with plays written in the modern era about period. The company’s first performance was an innovative staging of “The Lion in Winter” followed in 2010 by “A Man for All Seasons.”
In 2010 the two companies merged under the Artistic Directorship of Master Lorcan. The company was officially recognized by the SCA as a guild in 2011. As part of that recognition the company reorganized and added officers and a more formal structure that bridged both period theater companies and modern-day production needs.
In 2016 the company expanded its offerings at Pennsic to include script in hand performances. These script readings, directed by Lady Maire ni Sheaghdha, are performed before a live audience, providing a venue for performers who would like to act with the company but are reluctant to commit to a full production.
In 2015 Lord Tomas Wormwood was selected by the company members to become our third “Company Housekeeper,” which in modern terms is Managing Director. Under his leadership the company worked through the pandemic by performing a virtual version of Shakespeare’s “Twelfth Night” and keeping an amateur production of Sir Terry Pratchett’s “Wyrd Sisters” active for Pennsic 49.
In 2023 Mistress Perronnelle de Croy was selected to succeed Wormwood as our fourth Company Housekeeper and guide the company into its 25th year.
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Previous shows
| The Reckoning by John St. Dennis Pennsic 51 |
| Romeo & Juliet by William Shakespeare Pennsic 50 |
| Wyrd Sisters by Terry Pratchett, adapted to the stage by Stephen Briggs Pennsic 49 |
| Forbidden Pennsic by Richard Mandel Pennsic 48 |
| Hector of Troy by Richard Mandel Pennsic 47 |
| The Merry Wives of Windsor by Wm. Shakespeare Pennsic 46 |
| The Alchemist by Ben Johnson Pennsic 45 |
| The Merchant of Venice by Wm. Shakespeare Pennsic 44 |
| Canterbury Tales adapted by Andrew May Pennsic 43 |
| Miles Gloriosus by Titus Plautus Pennsic 42 |
| Anne of the Thousand Days by Maxwell Anderson Pennsic 41 |
| Henry V by Wm. Shakespeare Pennsic 40 |
| Medea by Euripides Pennsic 39 |
| A Man for All Seasons by Robert Bolt Pennsic 39 |
| Much Ado About Nothing by Wm. Shakespeare Pennsic 38 |
| Forbidden Pennsic by Richard Mandel Pennsic 37 |
| The Lion in Winter by James Goldman Pennsic 36 |
| The Wakefield Mystery Cycle by Anon Pennsic 36 |
| Gammer Gurton's Needle by Anon Pennsic 35 |
| Macbeth by Wm. Shakespeare Pennsic 34 |
| Canterbury Tales adapted by Andrew May Pennsic 33 |
| An Evening of French Farces by Anon Pennsic 32 |
| Lysistrata by Aristophanes Pennsic 31 |
| Everyman by Anon Pennsic 30 |
| As You Like It by Wm. Shakespeare Pennsic 29 |