Getting Started

I will go over many many specifics concerning how to get started on your own reenactment journey throughout the blog. The first step is simply deciding that you want to do this! The following is a list of reasons why one should pursue this type of hobby, and a few reasons why someone shouldn't. Please don't be discouraged if you don't see your reasons or inspiration on this list, it simply means that you haven't told me what it is. If you wish to add a reason, please make a comment, and I will add your reason as well as your name to the list!

Reasons to start Renaissance Reenacting:

1) It's FUN. There is really nothing like getting to be someone else. To think like them, to worry about their worries (rather than your own) for a day, can be incredibly liberating and exciting!

2) To Learn. I can't even begin to explain just how much I have learned about life, about history, and about myself through my time as Sir Robert Sidney as well as every other character that I have played throughout the years.

3) To be part of something big. Joining a Faire cast is a big experience. Having others there for you as you put on an amazing show is an awesome thing. The scale and magnitude of such a production is something that you really have to experience to understand. It is well worth it!

4) To make and cherish friendships. The new friends I have made at faire have been some of my most powerful relationships. I would not give them up for the world.

5) To dream. Reenacting can involve a lot of history and a decent amount of work, but in the end, you are getting the chance to BE someone else, or rather, to be a different version of yourself. One of the great truisms of acting is that through exploring other characters, you get to learn more about yourself and you get to live their life. You get to dream! Sometimes, when you get very lucky, you even get to experience some of those great feelings in life that normally only happen a brief few times.


Reasons NOT to start Renaissance Reenacting:

1) Fame. One of the great equalizers of reenacting is that the individuals who often become the most famous, become famous because of how much they help others to be seen. If you really look closely at those few Renaissance Reenactor Celebrities, you will find that they are often some of the most charitable members of the cast. (I am not speaking about stage actors or shows. Many of those actors are amazing people, but they tend to have very different demands on them than a reenactor.) The more you push for the recognition and fame, the further you will become from it. Reenacting is honestly and truly about the team.

2) To look good. Yes, it is hard not to "look good" wearing what we wear. The people we portray had a certain flare for clothing. Their eye for fashion makes our job that much cooler (looking). Reenacting is soooo much more than just being a moving mannequin. You don't have to be the most communicative member of the cast, it really does take all kinds, but you will have to participate. If your only concern is to look good, you will likely never really get what you want out of reenacting.

3) To have people serve you. We, as reenactors, work very hard to give a certain illusion that we are being treated like royalty and that we think of ourselves as such. It is entirely a facade. Those individuals who you see "serving us" are some of the most promising and committed members of our cast. I will drop almost anything I am doing to serve them backstage and that is exactly how it should be. We are a cast, not a group of individual actors. The Household, Yeoman, companions, and retainers are the individuals who make everything we do possible.

4) To have power. You have to give to get. Any person who joins simply to have a title or to feel entitled is missing the point. Yeah, its cool to be Sir Robert, but its a lot more fun to be "the ugly nephew of the Earl of Leicester who just got married without the Queen's permission."


The moral of this story is, "You get out what you put in." As you pursue reenacting you should bring with you several things;

A willingness to explore history and yourself

A genuine wonderment of what could be

And most importantly, an open mind.