[Spotlight Post] Scarborough Renaissance Festival

This week’s spotlight is on a much bigger scale than the last two, and for a totally self-serving reason–I will be doing a book signing here this weekend (April 28-29). This week, I tell you about Scarborough Renaissance Festival.

There are probably nearly as many negative stereotypes and clichés about Renaissance Festivals as there are about Science Fiction Conventions. They’re all as wrong. I’ve been a vendor and a patron at Scarborough Renaissance Festival for about seven years now, and the cast, crew, and vendors are some of the hardest working, most dedicated, and talented people I’ve ever had the pleasure of working with.

Little known facts about festivals like Scarborough–most of these people have “Day Jobs” since this festival runs only 8 WEEKENDS out of the year. Some performers take their show on the road and do their act at festivals all over the country, but many of the actors–the courts, the lane players, etc. They work 40 hours a week being “mundane” then 12-14 hours a day during the weekend in period clothing in climates not designed for said clothing (North Texas in April and May is SO NOT England or Scotland).

And that’s just the eight weeks the public sees. What they don’t see are the two months of workshops, acting classes, dialect classes, costuming classes that the cast members participate in (AFTER auditions more many) leading UP to the first weekend’s “Opening Canon”. They take their roles incredibly seriously. These are some of the hardest working people I’ve ever met in sometimes very difficult situations. They know these characters intimately: current story, back story, history, family, political alliances, all of it more than any acting experience I’ve ever seen because they have to play it for so long. This is a skill I could use more of in my writing…this level of character development.

In fact, I have learned a lot from them about improvisation for the Yard Dog Press Road Shows. These guys have to think on their feet all the time, staying in accent, in character, and professionally no matter what happens: rain, heat, snow, drunkards (this more than anything else). If you want to see MAD SKILLZ (yeah, I know, I can’t pull it off), come to a festival…and prepare to be amazed. I know I am. These people inspire me in ways I haven’t even BEGUN to completely harness.

Scarborough Renaissance Festival is more than food, beer, and some shows. It’s actually a family and a small town in its own right. There are tons of people working in front and behind the scenes to make sure the patrons have a grand ole time in Ye Ole Shire. Come for the fun, leave with a respect for the work they put into your fun and games.