Comment by spauldo

"Play" has a specific meeting for reenactors. When I was in the SCA, I "played" an 11th century Welsh longbowman. It's certainly not a derogatory term when used in this context, and the amount of effort put into it isn't relevant. I just wore the clothes and learned to hit a target with the bow more than half the time, but I played alongside people who spent a lot of time and money learning the languages and skills of the roles they played.