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daily kansan
wednesday ▲
9.15.99
eight.a ▲
All the world's a stage
woo
ain
92,
94
story by brianne hess • photo by kate levenson
Renaissance Festival actors pull up dancing tights, affect Elizabethan accents for ye oldyst festival in town
A long-haired bright-eyed man lies in wait at the castle
entrance. He bombards innocent people with propositions to feel his fur. '
"We have to pretend that each day is the one day of the harvest fair. It's kind of like the movie, Groundhog Day, all over again."
The greeter is Andrew Thompson, a dancer bedecked in a floppy hat, leather vest, knickers and burgundy tights. The fur he offers Renaissance Festival patrons is a matted pelt that looks suspiciously
Andrew Thompson Kansas City Renaissance Festival
I think he's been trying to sell the same pelt for five years. "I try to sell it because it makes a rather good pet," he explained in a proper British accent. "Ye don't have to feed it or clean up after it, and it minds very well."
"Ilive by chocolate-covered cheesecake on a stick," he said. "Since I dance seven times a day, I don't have to worry about my figure."
The 23rd annual festival held in Bonner Springs transports visitors back to a 16th-century village each weekend from Sept. 4 to Oct. 17. Psychics, character actors, turkey legs and traditional song and dance transform a field at Sandstone Amphitheater into a Renaissance-era harvest festival. The characters range from Queen Elizabeth I to the Prince of Poop and the actors expect visitor interaction. Kissing wrenches hover at the entrance to lay a smoosh on the unsuspecting. Beggars carry signs selling kisses for one pence. The Duke of Dung hugs any passer by who doesn't walk fast enough to escape.
"The dance is purely a hobby," Thompson said. "It's fun and it's a good venue to keep this kind of thing alive. People can actually come and see researched courtly dances. At a block party you'll see people shaking various parts of their body in an unseemly manner, and they try to call that dancing."
when you're out here and everyone else talks that way, you slip into it easily. A lot of times I just add in syllables where there shouldn't be any," he said. "I even find myself talking this way after the festival."
The enthusiasm and hard work also pay off as far as festival patrons are concerned. Women and little girls don flower halos, or princess hats. Various people gnaw on turkey legs or have artists paint their faces. Two high school girls from Columbia, Mo., Kivotin Steins and Chon.
In his five years playing the tanner's son at the festival, Thompson's accent is fluid and natural. He claims to have picked the accent up easily.
The Renaissance Festival is a family affair for the Thompsons. Andrew, a freshman at the Kansas City Art Institute and his sister, Valerie, are co-dance coordinators for the court and peasant dance troupes. His mother designed all of the court dancers' costumes and made the 30-foot serpent, Kassmyre the Dragon.
His mnemonic device to break the British accent is to repeat. The beer is in the pickup truck. He said this helped him revert to his Midwestern accent.
"We have to pretend that each day is the one day of the harvest fair," Thompson said. "It's kind of like the movie, Groundhog Day, all over again."
Thompson's hobby requires long hours and physical stamina in addition to wearing tights all day. A dancer's day is strenuous. Characters are to be on their feet, dancing, mingling and reverting royalty from 10 a.m. to 6:30 p.m.
However, Thompson's busy day does have its advantages, he said.
lotte Christensen, make the trek every year with their families. Steitz is in the process of making a Renaissance-period dress to wear when she goes to the festival.
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