Resources/FAQ

The Art of Choreographed Violence

Swords, Armor, & the Use Thereof

Tailors of Note and Favour

Suppliers of Weapons Used in our Acts

Historic European Martial Arts

Other Faire Acts We’d Recommend

Frequently Asked Questions:

“Are those real swords?”

Yes. And no. It depends.

How do you define a real sword? Are they antiques, made by hand in Elizabethan England or Europe, intended for use in killing one’s foes? No. Are they metal? Yes; some are tempered high carbon steel, comparable to that used at the time, some are aluminum, which is for use purely in prop swords, as it could never hold an edge. Are they sharp? Heck no- as one historical fencing master put it, “It is goode to sleep in a whole skin”.

“Where do you get your stuff?”

Many of the vendors who originally made our costumes, weapons, etc are listed in the links above. Much of it is also either modified or home-made; Edmund’s boots and scabbards and some of his other leather, Salivatolini’s leather doublet, our banner, and some of our other gear was made by us, by hand, and some of the weapons have been seriously modified as well.

“Did that stuff really happen like that?”

Yes. And no. It depends.

Many of our scenarios, characters, and even lines are lifted directly from or obviously inspired by documented historical fact.

Edmund’s maister George Pewter is an obvious ripoff of George Silver, a well-known and controversial English fight master with no small disdain for the new wave of Italian and Spanish rapier. Vincentimento Salivatolini was inspired by Vincentio Saviolo, one such Italian fencing master who set up shop in England.

Prize matches were indeed fought publicly to qualify for ranks within the company of maisters, from scholor to provost to maister. Even some of the accounts of female stage gladiators fighting such matches (and continuing to fight despite serious injury) are real, and one line of Raffine’s (“were I a man I’d make my living with a sword”) is directly lifted from one such account… at which her opponent replied that she ‘kept her hand in’ by beating her husband regularly.

The guards and styles mentioned in The Italian Fob are all real and as accurate as Kevin can recreate them from period illustrations and descriptions, as are the disarms and some of the other techniques in The Arms Race.

“Did you have to practice all that?”

Yes. And no. It depends (seeing a pattern?)

The fights are entirely pre-choreographed and rehearsed. The general script is written out and memorized. That said, the joy of live theatre, especially something as interactive as a Ren Faire show, is that there’s always a little give and take, the chance for new quips to your fellow actors, a little improv with the audience, etc. Some lines may come out in rehearsal that aren’t used in every show, depending on what the audience reactions are like, or the way in which a certain thing happens on a particular performance.

For example, when Edmund was in drag for Raffine’s Challenge at Shrewsbury, and someone in the audience remarked that his ‘cleavage’ was lopsided, he came back with ‘that’s what happens when you have children’. It was probably one of the most popular lines for that crowd in that show, but didn’t happen for any of the other shows that weekend, since it came out of an audience shout. That same show, someone who had seen our show previously gave away the punchline to one of our jokes, calling it out just before Edmund could. When things like this happen, whether they’re welcome opportunity for more humor, or acting challenges to be dealt with, it’s all a part of the live performance job description.

Have other questions for us? Leave a comment, or email us!