My Nonprofit Reviews

Working as a volunteer cast member at the Virginia Renaissance Faire has been among the most rewarding experiences of my life. After my flesh-and-blood family, VARF was the bit of home I missed most while working abroad. The cast members and staff have helped me build my skills as a performer and a teacher through rehearsal exercises including improv games and lots of advice on costuming, historical research on my character, and characterization tips. The work I've done at the faire has helped me in my career as a tutor; I've learned to help history and literature come alive for my students, just as I do for the visitors at VARF. Out of the Woodworks Productions has consistently put together a friendly, encouraging, dedicated, and helpful leadership team that manages to create miracles every year as the faire continues to grow. I was a cast member in 2005, 2008, 2009, and will be this year as well; I have seen how the faire has grown and learned from past experiences to make the faire more fun, safer, and better for cast members and volunteers who put a great deal of energy, time, money, and effort towards the show each year. As in any organization, there have been the occasional disagreements, conflicts, and setbacks, but these have never gotten in the way of the primary goal of the faire--creating an educational and entertaining celebration of history. Each year it only gets better and better. In any organization, the people are what make it worthwhile. This is an organization full of amazing people who care about one another like a family, and welcome new members and visitors in as family as well. Last year, for example, staff members and cast members alike joined together in a special effort to make a faire visit possible for a very ill ederly man, despite the difficulties. He reportedly had a wonderful day. Cast members as young as seven have grown up in the faire, learning valuable skills along the way, such as public speaking skills. The two elements of the faire that I must most highly praise are the court guild, where I have been a member for the last two years, and Poppets' Pastymes, which provides an educational environment specifically for children within the faire. The court guild has welcomed me and helped me learn to present an authentic character and a believable yet tangible court experience for visitors. I love presenting young lords and ladies to her Grace the Queen. Poppets, meanwhile, has made various crafts such as weaving, spinning, rag-doll making, quill calligraphy, paper making, and leather stamping available for children to try (and take home their handiwork). It also has historical games, puppets, clothing, lessons in ettiquette and hornbook reading, and the opportunity to be knighted by the Queen. Being able to experience history in such a hands-on way is essential for children, and Out of the Woodworks Productions has made it possible for these experiences to be part of the gate cost of the faire. Added to such things as learning to weild a sword at the militia encampment, see the joust or watch the hounds run, and the shopping and entertainment opportunities made available every year by the Virginia Renaissance Faire, Poppets makes a particularly rounded day for a young person that will encourage him or her to investigate more about history.

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