"Are you in a play?" The SCA as a performing art.

One of the ways SCA participants participate is by acting the part. This is the whole point behind having a persona, although personas aren't necessary to act the part. By your actions, your demeanor, by everything you say or do, especially in public, you contribute to everyone's experience at an event.

Back in the early days before anyone knew about the SCA it was common for a group of SCAers out in the real world in garb to be asked "are you in a play". The answer was no, followed by overwhelming the questioner with information about the SCA.

However there is a sense in which the SCA is a play, a play performed for the benefit of the participants rather than an audience. Like any play, the more effort the actors put into it, the more satisfying the outcome.