THEMINNESOTA SKYVAULT THEATRECOMPANY &
WORDSPLAYERS THEATRE
NEWSRELEASE
July 27, 2015
Contact:

Kathy Kuhlmann

507.358.6651

RENAISSANCE MINSTRELS,SHERWOODFOREST & BASIC TRAINING

TheMinnesota SkyVault Theatre Company of Rochester:

Anexpanded presence at this year’s Minnesota Renaissance Festival

The Minnesota Renaissance Festival and TheMinnesota SkyVault Theatre Company are expanding their 12month partnershipheading into this year’s Festival, which opens August 22 on its grounds inShakopee.
SkyVault, recipients of The Bottomless Hat/Best NewAct Award at last year’s Renaissance Festival, wastapped in March to occupy abrand new themed area, Sherwood Forest. The woodland area had served for thepastseveral years as a FairywingForest.
Carr Hagerman, Artistic Director for the Festival,recruited additional SkyVault cast members for 2015 basedon a variety offactors, including the success of the group last year, the relationship that’sdeveloped between the TwinCities and Rochester organizations, and “what ourgroups have in common,” said Hagerman. “SkyVault’s outdoorperformanceexperience and interactive performance style lend themselves perfectly to bothstage and streetperforming at the Festival. The musical and acting skills ofthe cast are superb. They were a hands down choice for theBottomless Hat Awardlast year.”
AN EXPANDING RELATIONSHIP
Minnesota’s Renaissance Festival will be moving toa new location, in the next couple of years. “We’reincorporating SkyVault’sinvolvement with us into our planning. We see them as a long-term and integralpart of theFestival going forward,” said Hagerman. “We’d like to get back tosome of our theatre roots, and this troupe camealong at the right time forthat.”
Daved Driscoll, directing SkyVault’s involvement inthe Festival, provided training in June to a group of 30Renaissance Festivalactors, each with various amounts of acting experience.
MINSTREL WAGON & SKYVAULT,THE ELDERS
Members of last year’s SkyVault troupe arereturning this year for stage and street performing. They’ll bringalong theirredesigned minstrel wagon, used for Shakespeare in the Park performances, toserve as their stage onFestival grounds.
Cast members (ages 16 – 23) will perform originalmusic from this year’s production ofRomeoand Juliet, aswell as original music from past Shakespeare productions. Theywill also perform brief scenes from a variety ofShakespeare plays. A CD oftheir original music will be launched in Shakopee.
SHERWOOD FOREST &SKYVAULT, THE APPRENTICES
Since June 15, twenty two youth (ages 6-14) havebeen working their way through a seven-week boot camppreparing them for therigors of 8-hour performance days at theRenaissance Festival.
The cast is receiving training in SkyVault’s signature performance styleincluding the following skills:observing, listening, interacting with otherensemble actors, physical acting, ensemble performance, music, audienceinteraction,improvisation, and outdoor performance.
They'rerehearsing outside, since that’s where they’ll be performing, and they’re doinga lot more in theirseven week, five hour training days:

  • ŸThey’ve each selected one sonnet-length poem andone monologue to learn, recite, and understand. They’respending time talkingabout the language used by the poet and the effect of the language.
  • ŸThey’ve each chosen at least one Renaissance-typeinstrument to play: ukulele, flute, recorder, bambard,violin, guitar,balalaika. With help from some local musicians, they’re taking what they knowabout their instruments,learning from each other and putting it all together.
  • ŸJoey Ray, a University of Minnesota gymnastics Hallof Famer and dentist in Adams, MN, teaches the castgymnastics & tumblingtwice a week and they finish each day with a workout: pushups, sit ups,running, and planks.SkyVault members lead and join them in various aspects ofthe training as well.
  • ŸEvery Thursday the group meets at Central Park (achange from their usual Soldier’s FieldPark venue)dressed in Charlie Chaplingarb. They practice the acting style of the silent film great -- learning thefine art ofcommunicating without words and with facial expressions – andpractice their craft on the crowds at Rochester’sThursdays on First.
  • ŸThe cast has watched and studied several CharlieChaplin short movies, as well as the 1938 classic ErrolFlynn movieThe Adventures of Robin Hood. The latterinspired discussion and skits about the story – its heroes,villains, plot – tomove the cast toward their roles as Sherwood Forest peasants, outlaws,craftsmen, & minstrels.
  • ŸOn July 10 the entire boot camp cast traveled tothe Festival grounds to scout out their Sherwood Forestarea.

The Minnesota Renaissance Festival begins its 45thseason on Saturday, August 22, and ends on October 4,2015. The Festival isopen weekends; Labor Day and Festival Friday, October 2, 2015 from 9 a.m. – 7p.m., rain orshine. Visit call 952.445.7361 for more information. The SkyVault troupes will performevery Festival day.
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- SkyVault photos from 2014 Renaissance Festival attached. Other photos and photoops available.
- Boot Camp training runs10am – 3pm; the last day is July 31.

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