More Than Medieval Manor

From Dave Brigham:

I never went to Medieval Manor in Boston's South End, which I regret. I had a hazy idea of what went on there: a stage show about a king and his court and perhaps food that echoed the times, or at least a Monty Python version of it. You know, mead and legs of lamb and potatoes and puddings and such. And Spam.

I was right about the stage show, but wrong about the food. If friends had ever asked, "Hey, would you like to sit at long tables with hundreds of strangers and eat pizza, salad, ribs and soup? And drink a half-gallon of Michelob or PBR?" I might've taken them up on that offer.

Opened in 1973 in the basement of the former Eliot Hotel in Boston's Back Bay neighborhood by brothers Don and Mark Akin, the dinner theater "became an off-color draw for birthdays and other celebrations," according to this 2015 Boston Globe article. "While diners gather at communal tables, actors stage a spoof of medieval times in which a king wakes to find his court — a minstrel, jester, oaf and, of course, wenches — having a party without him."

Medieval Manor closed in late 2015, a combination of lowered revenues and slacking enthusiasm for the business dealing a fatal blow. Oh yeah, and the Jabberwocky.

Still, the company's web site lives on.

With all the development going on in the South End, and Boston in general, you'd think perhaps the old Medieval Manor site would be slated for the wrecking ball, to be replaced by a gleaming tower of wretched excess for new types of kings and queens.

But it hasn't. Not yet, anyway. Nope, it's the Boston outpost of the More Than Words bookstore, a "nonprofit social enterprise that empowers youth who are in the foster care system, court involved, homeless, or out of school to take charge of their lives by taking charge of a business."

I hope things stay that way in the Modern Times Manor.