Welcome to TRFs' Renaissance University

About the Renaissance University

The Texas Renaissance Festival (TRF) provides entertainment, feasting and fun for yearly crowds that have exceeded 500,000. This premiere Renaissance Festival draws guests from all over the United States of America as well as visitors from all around the globe. Texas Renaissance Festival presents a sixteenth century historical village with several fantasy elements such as Barbarians, and Fairies. This unique set of elements creates a need for a diverse, flexible Actor/Employee.

This unit includes materials to provide the Actor/Employee with the specific skills needed to perform at TRF. This unit provides the Actor/Employee, both new and returning, with a broad spectrum of activities that will teach and refine the specific performance skills needed by TRF. The Actor/Employee will gain practical and technical skills needed to work in the informal stage of the village. The training activities utilize a range of techniques, including pencil and paper brainstorming, character discovery through movement, and improvisational games. With a strong, festival-specific background, the Actor/Employee can create a strong character to provide fun entertainment for the guests.

This unit contains three sequential lessons. The instructors will be members of the TRF Core Company. Attitudes and performance will be evaluated by observation of the Actor/Employee by testing at the end of instructional period, and throughout the course of the 17 performance days.

Expectations and Objectives

Our goal is to improve characterization, demeanor, and customer service skills of all costumed Actor/Employees. Actor/Employee is defined as any TRF participant who appears in costume and interacts with our patrons. We aim to give all Actor/Employees the mandatory skills needed to enhance the immersive experience of TRF by way of instituting a training and maintenance regiment in the use of the King's English and Dialect skills for every costumed Actor/Employee at TRF.

Expectations of Participants

· Appropriate use of the King's English

· Use of appropriate Dialect - Standard British, Cockney, Spanish, French, Scottish, German, Eastern European

· Demonstrable Patron contact skills - Greeting, Reverence, Trade Knowledge, Parting

· Enter into and exit from of any non-scripted association with a Patron.

· Appear comfortable in the environment, and make others feel comfortable as well

· Develop and use an effective, entertaining hawk to gather Patrons

· Ability to deal with situations that do not happen as planned during Patron interactions.

· Creating a memorable and entertaining character using vocal, physical and costume tools, while staying within the parameters set by TRF

via Zoom. Click here to access the meeting; in case a code is needed it is 518674.

Skill Assessments & Testing Out

· Skill Assessments will be given via phone, by calling Keegan, Monday through Friday from 10:00 AM - 4:00 PM starting on August 19th. 281-356-2178

· Owners/Managers not wishing to attend rehearsals must pass the mandatory performance skills required by demonstrating those skills in person or by phone prior to the opening of the show to ensure that they possess the knowledge to pass those skills on to their employees. They may take it several times.

· Owners/Managers wishing to attend rehearsals will be directed and rehearsed, in the skills needed to pass the mandatory skills test. Owners and Managers must pass the skills test to ensure that they possess the knowledge to pass those skills on to their employees. The mandatory skills test will be given at the end of every rehearsal for those wishing to take it.

· Every Actor/Employee upon opening will need to be able to demonstrate the mandatory performance skills and will be tested randomly throught the festival performance days by the TRF Entertainment Director.

Lack of participation during rehearsals and inadequate demonstration of these skills during performance, could result in the Owner/Manager being fined $500.00

What Will Be Assessed

King's English
Dialects
Costumes
Contact Skills
Knowledge of Trade
Effective Hawk
Character History Worksheets
Rehearsal Participation
Daily Performance