When Sara Greenberg, a manager at Panera Bread, isn’t at her day job, she swings swords and wields daggers.
“I’ve been doing Renaissance fairs since I was a baby,” the 23-year-old Gainesville resident said.
Greenberg auditioned Sunday from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. to be the dark jester assassin at the 32nd Hoggetowne Medieval Faire, which will be held the last weekend of January and the first weekend of February. If Greenberg gets the role, she will be one of about 100 in the fair’s cast volunteering to entertain guests at the winter event. Greenberg already considers herself a part of the team.
“We don’t care who you are, where you come from, what you know, what you don’t know,” she said. “We’re going to accept you with open arms. We’ll find something for you.”
The fair’s director, Candice Chambers, and two other organizers, sat under a shaded tent at North Central Florida YMCA, located at 5201 NW 34th Blvd., and gave hopeful auditioners advice about how to mold their characters. Chambers has been involved in the event for 12 years, but this is her first year directing the festival.
Chambers and other organizers have auditioned people for three days. The roles available this year include knights, actors, jugglers and tumblers.
“A lot of people are completely new,” Chambers said. “They’ve never had any training in theater combat.”
Laura Landry, an insurance adjuster, spent her birthday Sunday auditioning for the first time. She said she wanted to be a frivolous yet good-natured jester.
“They handed me a character and, amazingly, it was a really fitting character,” the 47-year-old said. “I was totally shocked.”
Actors who received callbacks Sunday night will move on to the final round of auditions, from which the best will be selected for the cast.
Chambers said training begins the weekend after callbacks.
“We hit the ground running,” she said.
After actors spend about six weeks learning how to wield weapons, they spend another six weeks writing their lines.
The actors, who meet from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. Saturdays and Sundays until the fair begins, are not paid for their time.
“We are all volunteers, from the board to every actor,” Chambers said.
Greenberg, who has performed at the event for five years, said she likes how flexible the schedule is. She said actors learn a lot during their time at the fair.
“It’s just how much you put into it,” she said. “We’ll showcase all that you know and help you learn more about yourself and learn new skills and tricks that you can use for the rest of your life.”
