Mock Faire Day (BTM Full Dress Rehearsal) - July 3rd, 2013

[Aaroncois]

Hey folks, time for my second-annual (or is it third? I lose track) reminder that the Thursday immediately preceding opening weekend is the final/full dress rehearsal for the Bless the Mark Players. As I've been told (unofficially, but nobody official has ever told me otherwise or looked at me askance), playtrons are welcome to come on up to the Faire grounds, in garb, to interact with the players, be an audience, and give them some folks on whom they can practice their improv. There are new players in the company this year, and no doubt they'll welcome the opportunity to get in some practice with "regular folks" (in as much as that applies to us) before opening day. There's no food/beverages on hand, so pack a lunch & snacks. The BTM Players run THEIR full schedule (more or less), from opening ceremony to the pubsing and the gauntlet (followed by notes from Doug and Gary). I'm planning to be there as long as it's not forecast to be a heavy downpour all day. It's the 4th of July, so there will probably be even fewer visitors there that day than usual, but if you don't have plans, I can tell you that it's a REALLY fun way to spend the day. I believe that the BTM players head to a nearby town (Fair Haven?) for a parade immediately following Mock Faire Day, but I've never attended that so I can't speak to it. Come if you can!

Edit: note that I changed the date in the thread title. It's on Wednesday, July 3rd this year.

[Lord Finger]

Mock Faire Day has been moved to Wednesday, July 3rd so the cast can participate in the Fair Haven parade on the 4th.

[Ozium]

Wow, you hardly ever post here.

[Aaroncois]

Mock Faire Day has been moved to Wednesday, July 3rd so the cast can participate in the Fair Haven parade on the 4th.

Thanks for posting that, Scot. I'm out of the loop and didn't know it had been moved. You saved me a long trip for nothing. So there you go, folks - Mock Faire Day on Wednesday the 3rd. I most likely won't be there, or may only be there later in the day, but I still encourage everybody to go if they can. It's a lot of fun!

[Lord Finger]

Yeah, you know I'm not the most talkative of the bunch, Oz. We were really looking forward to finally going to a mock faire this year, being on the holiday and all. It got moved for the parade or because people spoke up and said they wouldn't like it on the holiday...depends on whose scuttle you want to listen to.

[turlough dubh]

omg, i have never herd of mock faire day... can we just show up and go or do we need to set it up ahead of time?.. (doing happy dance in chair)

[Aaroncois]

omg, i have never herd of mock faire day... can we just show up and go or do we need to set it up ahead of time?.. (doing happy dance in chair)

It's completely informal. Just show up! I usually print myself out a copy of the schedule so I'll know what's happening when (since there won't be any programs available like there would be on an actual performance day), then I wander around looking for actors in need of an audience.

[Tazjia Swiftsail]

I had no idea they did this!!! 

[Tygrkat]

What a happy coincidence!! I'll be on site helping with booth set-up tomorrow! Maybe I'll drag my Mr. along with me, too 

[Ozium]

I shal stop and see thee on the morrow.

[turlough dubh]

damn my job and that they wont let me have the day off ,, grrrrrrr

[Lady Amy of York]

Tygrkat, what booth are you at  this year ?

[Aaroncois]

Anybody who wasn't able to attend today missed a real doozy. My sons and I had an absolute BLAST improv'ing with the cast and watching the various shows (all of which were good and some of which were EXCELLENT, particularly the Queen's Duel, which was one of the funniest BTM bits I've seen in the 20 years I've been attending). Several new faces and lots of new acts going on - Nature of Mercy described their stunt show to me and it sounds pretty darn cool. Chris Buehlman (last seen as the Spanish Ambassador about 3-4 years ago) is back with a bawdy take on children's stories. There's a 4-person, all-female ensemble doing a "trunk" routine with lots of props and audience involvement, and of course Don Juan & Miguel have added a new act this season.

I will say that not only did we have a LOT of fun today (definitely our favorite Mock Faire Day ever), but our presence was really welcome and appreciated. They actually could have made use of another 8-10 audience members/participants, since some of the shows that really needed interaction with the audience were lightly attended. If this is something you might like to aim for next year, go ahead and mark your calendar for 2014 right now! If we assume that opening weekend will be July 5th and 6th, 2014, then Mock Faire Day ought to be Thursday, July 3rd (unless they move it for some reason as happened this year).

[Tygrkat]

Tygrkat, what booth are you at  this year ?

Lady Amy, I'll be at the Fire Om Earth Booth, which is the one selling hand-crafted drums of all sorts, flutes, and ocarinas ~ we're near the Jousting Field, next to the lovely ceramics booth. I'm very excited to be working at Faire this season, it's my first season working instead of (just) playing and I think it'll be great!