Samantha Percy remembers attending the renaissance festival as a child and being in awe of Sir Drake, a nobleman. This year marks the second year she is working with him at the festival.
Percy, a Surgical Technology student at Sinclair Community College, plays Smooth Morgan Blair, the town criminal at the Ohio Renaissance Festival. Last year she played Pepper O’Greenho.
“It’s amazing how different it is to be a person who comes and sees everything and a patron,” Percy said. “It’s a good experience.”
To prepare for her role, Percy learned how to fight, dance and improvise with other cast members for several weeks before opening day.
“We just get to know each other as a cast because it’s easier to come out here and play with each other when you know each other,” Percy said.
She enjoys being a cast member and learning the lore of the festival, such as the history of the town and its characters. Though Percy has wondered what it would be like to play a noble woman, she isn’t sure if it would suit her personality.
“As a noble person, you have to be more proper, and I don’t really know if I would be able to do that all the time,” she said.
Percy said the festival requires cast members to provide their own costumes, which can get expensive. She said a peasant’s costume can cost between $80 and $100, but a noble costume can cost up to $500.
Percy thinks attending the festival is not only a way to get away from reality but also a completely different experience.
“You learn a lot of things about yourself; you learn a lot of things about other people and how other people interact with everything,” she said. “It’s a learning experience.”