Murdery Acid Trip Renfaire Nightmare

A Crude Introduction

I was trying to think of sorts of theatre groups, shows, or trends to talk about when my mind wandered to a conversation I had with my friend Matt. Now, it should be noted that Matt was not a regular theatre goer and I'm not sure he's ever seen a production outside of high school-- HOWEVER! We were discussing how one of our mutual friends lived above a sex dungeon and he said, "Yeah, I went to check it out a while ago. It's all a lot more Ren Faire then you'd imagine."

A) I knew exactly what he meant by that.

B) Clearly, he'd been to a Renaissance Faire.

C) Hahahahahaha!

Anyway, it got me thinking: how common is it for non-theatre goers to attend a renaissance faire? And is it unreasonable to think that the live performances might get a handful of them interested in seeing full scale productions outside a field in Lancaster County? Especially since, apart from being immersive, often times there are plays performed on stages on grounds.

Lower Income Groups and Statistics and Stuff

I found some interesting statistics on who attends the Ren Faire that might not be able to shell out the money for a Broadway show. Dedde Barber's master's thesis for Texas Tech states: 

"Lower income respondents were more involved with the Renaissance Festival/Faire atmosphere and culture than those at middle and high incomes... low-income respondents attached more importance to dress in Renaissance/other attire than the other two income groups. In addition, low income respondents gave higher importance rating to the motivation to laugh and feel better about oneself than the other two income groups."

The evidence Barber collected suggests that this step around self-segregation works well not only in terms of enthusiasm but also in terms of it being a "family tradition" in some cases (great in terms of the business model aspect Austin referred to). That is to say, people have a tendency to interact and come back for more. This table from yet another master's thesis (this one from Justin A. Gross) surprised me with how into the Ren Faire the people surveyed seemed to get.

There is, however, a bit of a race barrier that is unaddressed here. Heather Dumas of Ohio University's master's thesis had a sample size of 800 and only 10 were people of color. There is also a sub-culture element that goes into the Renaissance Faire which should be acknowledged; some people flock not so much for the spectacle but more to let their freak flag fly... so to speak.

Doesn't This Point to What We Already Kinda Know?

People get pumped about immersive opportunities! I think the personalization of the experience here or, say, in Sleep No More (for example) is an excellent hook for people who might otherwise not be inclined toward the theatrical. Immersive theatre is a gateway drug... so to speak.

Always theatre responsibly.

I guess the question is how do we make that shift from immersive theatre to more traditional forms happen more frequently/smoothly? Or is traditional theatre a dinosaur that needs to be retired? I have zero answers for you, m8.

So Have Fun Out There and Don't Let Wizards Steal Your Girl!