Playtron or Rennie

[Merlin]

Merlin,

If you're registered on this forum and you actually take the time to read some threads and post in some yourselves, it's probably safe to say you are a rennie.  It has nothing to do with whether you are working for the faire or not.  It is your love for all things faire-related.

YAY! AnnMarie wins ! ! !

I have met her and her wonderful family (Aggies....but my favorite Aggies) and I value her opinion. Her husband owns a LOT of actual period garb and performs at multiple Faires...she is also garbed and her children are garbed regularly at multiple faires.

Sooooo...I will take the title of Rennie over playtron or paytron.
Or just stick with freak.... seems to be a popular opinion. lol

[Dinobabe]

I can say that when grandma owned a shop a rennie was definitely someone who worked the faire (paid or volunteer; actor or shopkeeper, etc.).  A small group of people that were not workers dressed, played the part, and paid to get in; but were not considered rennies.

But things change!   A lot more people dress, play, and pay than years ago.

Now I would say that anyone who dresses, plays the part, and truly enjoys faire for faire is a rennie.  You may only attend your local faire or travel around.  I think playtron is just a way to distinguish between those that pay to get in and those that don't.
People that rent a costume at faire (you know the ones, they are still wearing tennis shoes!) just for the one day experience I would not consider playtrons.  But that's just my humble opinion.

[jcbanner]

I've seen it portrayed in several ways, I've met people that claim that only the people that spend the majority of the year on the road traveling and working at renfaires are the true rennies.  That is such a closed minded view point that it has got to be counter to the inspiration that the original renfaires were started with.


The best that I've heard is any person that has a large interest and involvement in renfaires can be called a Rennie.  There are several different types of rennies. To name a few:

Playtron:  A person that in not associated with the faire they are currently attending, but enjoys dressing the part and playing along.

Road Rennie:  Travels from one faire to the next working at each faire they stop at.

Boothie:  Typically workers in a merchant, food, or concessions booth, commonly are hired per weekend, but not uncommon to be regular employees of the company (or person) who owns the booth, even if only on a seasonal basis.  Some people chose a looser definition that the term Boothie applies to anyone who works within a booth, (to include hawkers, booth employees, booth owners, ect)

Cast:  it seems that most faires have a different perspective on who is considered cast, though in general, anyone who signs a contract agreeing to perform at the event as a designated character can be considered cast.

there are cases where your definition can change, i.e., you may be cast at one event, and decide to visit another event that you are not associated with, in this case, instead of being called "cast", you may be called a "playtron"

there are several other classifications, but this is to give a general idea.  It is by no means all inclusive.



I know a few people that just about never wear costumes or garb, do not develop characters, nor watch very many shows.  It would be hard to call them a "Rennie" by any definition shown here, but they can still be called one.  a friend of mine works support staff behind scenes, so he doesn't get to play in the streets very often, and he's a volunteer.  but when ever he's out of town, he'll always manage to track down a local renfaire and enjoy the shows.  he doesn't dress in garb, and doesnt do characters, so its hard to call him a playtron, but he's a rennie none the less.

[AnnMarie B]

Merlin,

If you're registered on this forum and you actually take the time to read some threads and post in some yourselves, it's probably safe to say you are a rennie.  It has nothing to do with whether you are working for the faire or not.  It is your love for all things faire-related.

YAY! AnnMarie wins ! ! !

I have met her and her wonderful family (Aggies....but my favorite Aggies) and I value her opinion. Her husband owns a LOT of actual period garb and performs at multiple Faires...she is also garbed and her children are garbed regularly at multiple faires.

Sooooo...I will take the title of Rennie over playtron or paytron.
Or just stick with freak.... seems to be a popular opinion. lol

Thanks, Merlin    If we're not all rennies, then we can all be freaks together    Looking forward to seeing you at Scarby!

[VIII]

"Rennie" was coined by those who work the circuit.  Some of them believe that, until you've had to rescue children, fellows, booths-and-wares, musical instruments, props, kittens, et al, at midnight in a rainstorm during the week, you ain't a Rennie.

Read "The Road Dog Diaries" by Ray St. Louis for a good 'slice-of-life' on the road.

"Rennie" is such a cool moniker that it has been adopted by many who are part of Faire in their hearts.

[Chris B]

Just my two cents, but I find it a bit absurd to even feel the need to classify people into a subset or nice defined box.  All of us participate to varying degrees and place the fair at different levels on our priority list.  Titles are just ways people generalize other people.  In my opinion, it is all small-minded.  Call yourself what you want and have fun with your involvement in the fair.

If you feel threatened by someone else defining themselves by a mere word that you associate with yourself, your life leaves much to be desired.

[Merlin]

Just my two cents, but I find it a bit absurd to even feel the need to classify people into a subset or nice defined box.  All of us participate to varying degrees and place the fair at different levels on our priority list.  Titles are just ways people generalize other people.  In my opinion, it is all small-minded.  Call yourself what you want and have fun with your involvement in the fair.

If you feel threatened by someone else defining themselves by a mere word that you associate with yourself, your life leaves much to be desired.

This is Chris' way of calling me a freak and telling me to shut up.




JK ! 

I've participated in "skits" at the faire... I follow and support several acts.... even convinced some people to buy products before (Wine&Alch CD's)
I guess the only reason I even posed the question is to get a feel for others views. In the past...there have been strong feelings about attire worn at faire so I wondered if I was going to offend anyone by calling myself a rennie.
My views are much like Chris' .... go and have fun. Chris wears only authentic garb but never points out that someones buttons aren't truly renaissance or that a Noble would never have facial hair like that....woman.
I tell my friends that want to experience the faire for the first time that if they show up in Wranglers and cowboy boots...they will feel out of place but can still have fun. Then they end up renting a costume at the gate.

How many days 'till Scarby?

[Dinobabe]

Speaking of....

I tell my friends that want to experience the faire for the first time that if they show up in Wranglers and cowboy boots...they will feel out of place but can still have fun. Then they end up renting a costume at the gate.

My husband refused to wear garb when I took him many years ago.  Half way through the day we couldn't get him into a costume fast enough!  Now he wears a kilt, doublet, hat, the works!

[Merlin]

Doesn't take long for people to figure out that it's funner to participate.... and that no one looks foolish or gets laughed at inside the gates.

(thank God for that....I mean.... look at me)

[Blue66669]

"Rennie" was coined by those who work the circuit.  Some of them believe that, until you've had to rescue children, fellows, booths-and-wares, musical instruments, props, kittens, et al, at midnight in a rainstorm during the week, you ain't a Rennie.

Read "The Road Dog Diaries" by Ray St. Louis for a good 'slice-of-life' on the road.

"Rennie" is such a cool moniker that it has been adopted by many who are part of Faire in their hearts.

Does rescuing your brokedown tent in participants on a Tuesday night during a windstorm that followed a rainstorm while being attacked by a mutant crawfish count?

Just my opinion... I used to really get offended when my friends would giggle when I would call myself a Rennie. It really hurt my feelings. Then I worked my first season, and I understand. I'm not one for labelling people, unless they ask for it and there's a decent Sharpie nearby LOL, but I personally can tell that there's an EXTREME difference between just visiting the faire (even if it IS on a daily basis) and working. A lot of people think that it's loads of fun... and it is sometimes. But it's work. HARD WORK. Here's an example of my faire schedule on Saturdays-

6:30am- wake up, no matter how hungover I am, and get ready to open the doors to the shop, which includes sweeping the path, setting out new inventory, and trying to catch breakfast
8:30am- finish the opening jobs and start throwing on my makeup
9:00- cannon blows, but I'm still not ready LOL. Rush to get all of my crap on before Tartanic finishes their first set. (please keep in mind that I'm in the upstairs of a shop, still trying to pay attention to what's going on with the guys in actually working in the shop while I'm getting dressed, and hoping that none of my bunkmates catch me nudie while I'm wrestling with my bloomers)
10:30am- finally ready. Head downstairs to get into the shop and get to work. Sometimes I have to make a food run, sometimes I need to go buy something to replace something that I left at home, sometimes I just hang in the shop, waiting for people to make it back to where we are.
11:30am- head off to march parade, which is a mile and a half march, rain or shine (shine being 104 degrees and practically baking). Finish parade at about 12:20, and head back to the shop to catch my breath.
12:30pm- shop work and lunch. My friends have come to the shop to say hello, they're all drunk already, and I can't leave to go with them.
2:30pm- more people stop by. Again, they come in, on the way to do something fun, and I can't go.
4:00pm- Get about an hour to run around. This time is spent getting food, a quick beer if discretion allows, and laughing at the drunk friends that now have difficulty standing. Back to the shop!
6pm- sit around, anxiously waiting for cannon. Feet hurt from living on the cobblestones, sore from the bodice and giant things on my head. Planning to try to either cook at the shop or go harness some restaurant food from Magnolia.
6:30pm- if we've decided that we want to try to eat in town, we have to wait until the patrons all leave the park. We are not allowed to go out the participant's exit until close to 8pm, or until the patron traffic dies down. If we wish to leave before that, we have the option of going out the side gate and joining up with patron traffic. Most of us just wait.
10pm- finish any and all dinner and food type events, and make it back in time to either a)shower and go to bed, OR b)say "screw the sleep" and head out to play music and drink all night. But it's never all night though, because Sunday, you have to get up and do it all over again. Only, you're sore from Saturday and have even LESS sleep.

I'm just a booth Rennie. The performance company has it even tougher than I do, and I don't envy the work they have to endure. Takes one full week to properly recover from faire, which we don't get. Only 4 ½ days before we have to go out and do it again. But, while it's a lot of work, and very exhausting, and our families and friends wonder if we're still alive, it's worth every minute.

[Adriana Rose]

Blu I love your recount of your days!

But back to the subject!

JC really hit it on the head in my view so did VIII . Farken rain storms!

[meauho]

I learned my definitions in the 1980s.  Some of them were going out of use because people wanted to be seen as nicer to customers.

Player: A cast member or vendor at the fair.  Generally, the people who are working (whether paid or not) at the behest of the faire.  Many of these people are on a "circuit", but may not be the same as everybody else's.  Participating in one faire a year isn't a circuit, participating in 2 or 3 of the same faires year after year is a circuit, whether regardless of whether it matches with other people's or not.  (Texas, Michigan, California, and Alaska would be an unusual circuit, but if you follow the same path multiple years....)

Traveler: The polite term for paying patrons.

Mark: The impolite term for paying patrons - comes from carnivals where customers were seen as dollar signs

Rennie: What a Traveler/ Mark calls a Player.  At one point, it was considered insulting to call somebody a Rennie (much like every Carnival person I've ever known hates to be called a "carnie", or calling the Romani "gypsies").

From that, you got

Playtron: a Player Patron - somebody who plays, but pays to get in/ isn't sanctioned by the faire.


Players can further be broken down, and terms have varied from faire to faire, but generally you have:

Cast: Hired/ Paid by the faire as a member of the court (or courts).

Performers: People performing - non cast (Ded Bob, Sound and Fury, and Tartanic)
*Some faires use Performers for "those with stages" and buskers as "those without stages" - even if buskers have a set area.  I've never seen the busker designation for people not allowed to accept tips, as that is generally their only pay.

Vendors/ Guilds: the sellers.

[Anna Iram]

I've always been one to call myself a Playtron. I'm not on cast, nor do I work a booth or perform an act. I pay ( or finagle a free ticket when I can) and I come and play at being Anna and at the end of the day I go home. That's *my* part in the scheme of things and I think it's just as important, in it's own way as any other part, but I'd never want any of those that work hard to put the show on to think I'm trying to pose as one of them, so I differentiate.

[Captain Jack Wolfe]

What do I call myself?  Jack.  I've found over the years that's sufficient. 

[Blue66669]

What do I call myself?  Jack.  I've found over the years that's sufficient. 

I know a couple things I could call yeh.....