[Spotlight Post] Reign vs. Renaissance Festivals
So, this is supposed to be a spotlight post – where I focus on something or someone good. But in a way it’s going to be part rant, and I apologize for that, but I’m going to get this off my chest.
From The CW website.
I watched Reign last night on the CW. I should’ve heeded warnings and ran away, but I didn’t. I watched it. It was so very bad. Not even the girl from the Narnia movies can save this thing. The dialog is typical of a CW tweener drama (it’s a “prime time drama” – aka soap opera). The secondary and male characters make an attempt at period costuming – the main female characters, not even a little. It’s all “Prom Wear”. And the “modern” soundtrack just doesn’t work for me. Okay, so it’s the CW, I don’t expect a lot from them, but come on.
Why does this grate on my nerves so much? Well, one, it’s supposed to be Mary, Queen of Scots. And of all my Northern European roots , I identify with the Scot blood in me most, so a show about a Scottish Queen? Yay. Except it’s not. Mary’s being shipped off to marry the Crown Prince of France. Okay, maybe historically accurate – except for the fact that everyone has a British accent. COME ON. In the age of pop culture embracing DR WHO find at least ONE freakin’ Scot and French actor – or heck a decent dialog coach. I can recommend some.
Because that’s my other peeve. I’m around Renaissance Festivals, and okay, we’re not accurate either, but heck, they at least TRY HARDER. Scarborough Renaissance Festival uses Queen Margaret of Scotland and Henry VIII and (until this year) Anne Boleyn. And I always say Queen Margaret is my queen. They brogue with the best of ’em, make a concerted effort to get a lot CLOSER to period appropriate attire – and if you think a Royal Court is not a Soap Opera just in and of itself? Dude. Pay attention. If you want to get into the spirit yourself? Go check out Texas Renaissance Festival down by Houston, or Kansas City or any number of other faires. It’ll be a lot less…wrong.
Don’t get me wrong, I’m not slamming the actors of Reign, they can only do so much with the material they’re given. The scriptwriters, though, come on. I know you’re busy but Google is your friend. Or, heck, OPEN A BOOK. I guarantee you the Renaissance Festival actors have -everything they’ve been able to get their hands on. The faire actors put in months and years on their characters – and under even harsher conditions – the Reign actors don’t have to deal with kiddoes that have just eaten their body weight in fried food and then want to hug you – or worse.
So go out and support a local renaissance festival if you need your dose of “Olden Times” fun. You’ll get more out of it, and it’s fun. Besides there are awesome musicans and artisans to support as well.
7 Comments
Hi….didn’t see the show, but must concur with the Scarby mention…One of my favorites to attend…and like it because they really try…I carry three different characters to faire(French, Scots and of course pirate). Actually worked with a coach to try and make sure the Scots was at least “somewhat” correct…Nice article!
Pierre Rose
As a long time Rennie actor i lasted about 15 minutes and had to turn it off.
Thank you so very much for your support of Scarborough Renaissance Festival. I have been a “Playtron” (Season Pass holder who plays a character because it’s FUN) for nearly 20 years. 2 seasons ago I was asked to join the Scottish Court as an “English Scotsman”. I have had more fun at Faire because of this than I can possibly relate. And it’s only going to get better and more fun in future seasons. Due to my line of work I can only attend on Sundays, so being on Cast is out of the question. This is the closest I’ll get, and I am honoured to be part of it. And we definitely research, read, watch movies that actually CARE about history and accuracy, etc. Because we enjoy it. It’s “Home #2” for many of us.
I have chosen not to watch Reign. And apparently rightly so. As soon as I saw the letters “CW” attached, I was uninterested. Your review merely confirms that choice for me.
To you, my dear Lady, I say a hearty Huzzah!
See you at Scarby. =)
– Capt Peaches
Laddie-in-Waiting to
HRM Queen Margaret of Scotland and the Isles
(Yes, that is the position I hold at Court.
Don’t jude. It’s all in good fun. =P )
Arghhh the show was horrible! The ladies in waiting names were changed..wth? The women’s gowns were BAD 1950 prom dresses. The plot HORRIBLE. 21 years of faire, Mary of Scots court. Our guild master would fire the lot of them! arghhh
i couldnt agree more. i will never bother to watch again. after working at OKRF for 8 years i was thoroughly disgusted by the lack of …… well everything. so obvious this is aimed at teeny bopper girls and poo on the rest. teenage soap opera at best BLAH
Hear, Hear! Huzzah and Bravissimo and a resounding THANK YOU! I’m a 20 year veteran of TRF, ten years spent on Performance Company cast. We spend weeks before the show opens rehearsing and learning how to perform our characters, what accents or inflections to use and how to dress appropriately. We don’t have a costumer, a hair stylist or a voice coach. Sometimes we don’t even have a script but have to improvise our performances. What we DO have is a will to entertain, a desire to learn everything we can to present a viable and entertaining ‘trip back in time’ for our patrons; what we do have is an intense love of what we are there to achieve. In addition to rehearsing our shows we have classes where we study the rules of dress for the sixteenth century, the customs, the speech, how to move naturally in our period garb and how to present ourselves to the public–not through the lens of a camera, but face-to-face in person! No, we’re not history either–we don’t pretend to be–but we DO strive to be the best and most accurate we can. And may I add that with 1/1000th the budget of even an underfunded tv show and yet we still do a helluva much better job!
‘Reign’, ‘The Tudors’ and films like ‘A Knight’s Tale’ drive me right through the roof in frustration with their utter lack of regard for their source material and historically ridiculous costumes. Damn it, there’s no excuse for such horrible costumes and storytelling when it’s all right here on the internet for free–even instructions how to make them!
Real history is much better than the suds and the costuming is far more sumptuously beautiful than the Halloween/prom dress offerings and the human beings who lived during these times are far more complex and intersting than the tissue paper caracatures shown on TV.
If you want REAL history, with amazing production values, brilliant acting and sublime costumes and settings avoid the cheesy crap above and check out Netflix for showings of 1970’s Six Wives of Henry VIII or 1971’s Elizabeth R, first shown on PBS. They will NOT waste your time, you’ll learn something valid and you’ll be richly entertained.
All you commenters have valid complaints from trying to keep a semblance of keeping historical prospective both livid and accuracy.
However, I’d like to take this one step further beyond simply focusing on accuracy in the Ren circles; chronic misrepresenting history. In my studies over the past two years, I have found scholars and writers have taken two prospective in translating history in the millennium: Basing the events of the past into the mores and folkways of society today, that is supplanting the socio-environmental conditions of that time/place, and replacing them with the bias of today’s socio-environmental conditions of the writer in that exact moment; the other is based on “what if†scenarios without grounding the writer in socio-environmental conditions of that moment in history. Something Dr. Harry Turtledove has done remarkably well while others have not.
Reign is a perfect example of how both prospective of translating history, today’s mores plus “what if†Mary of Scotland was in modern times, on a very interesting a tragic narrative into a tottery soap. I think no further explain is needed.
Your comments welcome.