Access to Art Seeks Actors to Form Court of Elizabeth I For Renaissance Festival

WEST CAPE MAY — On Oct. 2-3, at the vineyard and farm of Willow Creek Farm, Access to Art, inc. will host the first Cape May Renaissance Faire/Festival to the Cape May area.
Access to Art is seeking actors to portray Renaissance courtiers in the Court of Elizabeth l, Gloriana, the daughter of Henry VIII and Anne Boleyn, who presided over one of the most peaceful and prosperous courts of England.
Elizabeth, Virgin Queen, never married, but claimed to be married to England.
The Elizabethan Age was celebrated for literary and dramatic culture, its music and chivalry. The Elizabethans loved a good time, and celebrated with dance, music, wine, and large banquets and the queen, like her father before her, went on processions in the summers, going from one part of her kingdom to another, and being entertained royally by her courtiers who sought her favor at court by presenting lavish banquets.
In turn, they were rewarded appointments at court, and sometimes, castles, that belonged to the Queen. Often theatrical works, particularly works from the Arthurian legend, Robin Hood, or plays or masques were presented for the gathered nobles. Nobles sponsored the arts, and many of them were patrons of companies of actors, who performed for them.
Elizabeth loved taking long walks in her beautifully ornate gardens, far from the prying eyes of the courts and insisted on riding her horse every morning to what, to some of her advisors, seemed, the detriment of state duties.
She loved to hunt deer, hawk, and ride furiously for ten miles or so with one of her favorites, Sir Robert Dudley, Chief of Horse. She rode at breakneck speeds, causing concern among her courtiers, who were afraid that she would fall and injure herself.
She spent several hours hunting with her courtiers, and then had a picnic in the forest. In l575, she is said to have shot six does with her cross bow, which was reported by the French Ambassador. She kept her courtiers company on the hunts and actively pursued the sport.
Elizabeth played the virginals and the lute and was a skilled musician. She loved dancing and would dance the difficult and demanding Galliard, every morning, to keep her fit. Sir Robert Dudley, Earl of Leicester, was a good a horseman as a dancer, and he often accompanied Elizabeth in her dances, which were a pleasure to behold.
She was fond of the Volta, which caused the ladies to leap in the air, and created a bit of a scandal. She was a poet and wrote poetry. She loved plays and had her own company of players; Sir Robert Dudley, Earl of Leicester, also had a company of players whom he would pay to perform before the Queen.
Her counselors were more sober than her courtiers who were expected to pay homage to her, be courteous, graceful in manner and discourse; well educated in classical works of literature, history, geography, mathematics, languages; athletic, industrious, generous and witty.
William Cecil and Francis Walsingham, her political advisors, were piously religious, family men, and incredible hard workers. More often than not, they dressed in black and were models of sobriety.
Her courtiers, like Robert Dudley and Robert Devereaux, Earl of Essex, were flamboyant men with an eye for the spectacular, outgoing men with great wit and charm and handsome and athletic men who excelled at courtly events such as jousts. Christopher Hatton managed to combine both the courtly arts and was a successful politician becoming Lord Chancellor of England.
Other men in her court were Sir Phillip Sydney, Sir Thomas Wyatt. Privateers and Explorers of Queen Elizabeth I included Sir Francis Drake, Sir Humphrey Gilbert, Sir Richard Grenville, Sir John Hawkins, Sir Martin Frobisher, and Sir Richard Hawkins.
John Dee, William Cecil -Lord Burghley, and Robert Cecil were her statesmen and advisers of the Queen.
Ladies-in-waiting at the court also surrounded Elizabeth.
They were usually noblewomen of lower rank than the one they attend to, and they are not considered servants. In Tudor England, ladies-in-waiting were divided into four separate systems: great ladies, ladies of the privy chamber, Maids of Honour and chamberers.
The ladies of the privy chamber were the ones who were closest to the queen and thought to be the highest level of unpaid ladies-in-waiting. Most of the other women were considered Maids of Honor.
The duties of the ladies-in-waiting at the Tudor Court were to act as royal companions, and to accompany the Queen where ever she went. They had to be proficient in the “modern” dances, languages, instruments, reading, and writing letters for the queen, sewing/embroidery, etc.
Potential members of the court may call Access to Art, Inc. at (609) 465-3963 to try out for a part in the Queen’s Court.