Both novice and skilled actors came to try out for the 7th annual renaissance fair Saturday. Watch video
FLORENCE - For some actors, donning 16th Century costumes and playing out scenes of fantasy and historical fiction is almost second nature
For others, it helps awaken a passion they didn't know they had.
Both kinds of actors took the stage Saturday to audition for the 7th annual New Jersey Renaissance Faire; some brought experience, others just excitement at the idea of something new.
"I love the positive energy here," Tara Spiecker, an actress who has been in the fair for the past three years said, "It's great. It's like family."
The highly popular fair will be entering its 7th year this summer with presentations starting in late May and continuing midway through the following month.
For the actors - many of whom found a love for the 16th Century English dialect and costumes - the competition is tough.
ALSO: Medieval Times at the New Jersey Renaissance Faire
John A. Williams, the supporting cast director for the show, said the group had lined up over 100 auditions throughout the weekend, pulling in people from all over the area. They started those auditions Saturday, watching as each actor performed a monologue, sang - or in one person's case, played the violin - and acted out improvised scenes.
Of the 100 auditions only 60 will be chosen to participate in the fair. Of those 60, only nine will be the main, paid actors, Williams said.
Even though the competition is stiff, Williams said they're open to newcomers.
"Can they walk and chew gum at the same time?" Williams said with a laugh. "Yea that's okay. I'm just looking for people who can take direction, have a good attitude and really want to do it."
One of those people is Kristen Buonfiglio, who is auditioning for the first time this year.
"I've always had a love for the theater, I've always had an interest in it," Buonfiglio said, adding that she had acted in some plays in the past, but never a renaissance fair.
It was actually Spieker - one of the renaissance fair veterans - who got her interested in the performance when she first attended last year.
"Seeing her perform, it ignited a fire - a passion - in me, to go back to theater," Buonfiglio said.
That's what fair directors like Williams want to see.
"We have some of our actors who have been here since the beginning," he said. Others are just starting out, which he loves, too.
"We get to break people out of their shells a little bit. We get to give people a place where they can go and learn how to be confident in front of....up to a thousand people."
That, Williams said, is what he's most proud of.
Anna Merriman may be reached at amerriman@njadvancemedia.com. Follow her on Twitter @anna_merriman Find The Times of Trenton on Facebook.