The Faire
Opening Night: February 7, 2014
Closing: March 1, 2014
Theater: Fourth Street Theatre
The Faire follows the behind-the-scenes lives of five performers at a Renaissance Faire somewhere in the backwoods of northern California. The Actress, the Fencer, the Virgin, the Old Burnout, and the Witch all have something to lose when they find out attendance is down. This small group of outcasts must band together to stave off their impending irrelevance and fight for their own corner of utopia. The Faire is the frequently hilarious, sometimes tragic tale of the real lives beneath the corsets and coconut boobs.
BUY TICKETSREAD THE REVIEWS:
February 13, 2014
Drama is never quite as comedic as when conveyed through a bodice-choked bosom. That is readily apparent in Crystal Finn’s The Faire, making its world premiere at the Fourth Street Theatre in a production by Fault Line Theatre. This tale of medieval fetishism in a time of austerity is mostly hilarious, but also a little bit depressing. The Faire takes place at the Renaissance Pleasure Faire in backwoods Northern California. Angela (Rachel Christopher) is a "serious actress" forced to take a job performing ridiculous abbreviated adaptations of Shakespeare like "Romeo and Flooziet" and "Titus Androgyny," written by the self-styled Bard "Jeff the Creator."
READ THE REVIEW
February 10, 2014
What would you do if for the longest time you were a performer at a Renaissance Faire who suddenly finds out that the faire is closing down in just two weeks due to poor attendance? Exactly! You have no idea! It’s a feeling that anyone in any field of work can experience and relate to. Though each individual struggle may vary, it does not take away the reality of it, even for performers of a Renaissance Faire located somewhere in the backwoods of Northern California.
READ THE REVIEW
February 15, 2014
There was considerable drama and suspense in the New York air last night. Unfortunately, it happened on my way to theatre, not once I got there. (See the postscript.) The play, Crystal Finn’s The Faire, now at the Fourth Street Theatre in a Fault Line Theatre production, is forgettable spoof the world of Renaissance-themed summer festivals and fairs (or faires) that play in numerous locales across the country. A former student of mine, one of the smartest and most talented in my long teaching career, spent a couple of summers doing these shows at Tuxedo, New York, and I’ll never forget visiting him and being surprised by the rather high level of talent on display, with young actors engaging not only in displays of medieval and Renaissance-style activity, like jousting and swordplay, but in abbreviated and nicely rendered versions of Shakespeare’s plays. (I saw As You Like It. The staging, atmosphere, and costumes were all colorful and authentic-looking, and the sizable number of performers displayed a wide range of performance skills.
READ THE REVIEW
February 14, 2014
We know from theater’s long history of self-examination that what’s going on backstage during any given production is often more entertaining than what’s presented to the audience. The activity behind the curtain is particularly delicious in Fault Line Theater’s premiere of The Faire, a sharp comedy by Crystal Finn at the Fourth Street Theater about a sad-sack Renaissance fair and the actors who are watching it slowly die.
READ THE REVIEW
