Perhaps the nicest surprise I got at Arizona was coming across my favorite joust troupe, the Hanlon-Lee Action Theatre. I had originally discovered them at Bristol but they had since ceased performing there. When I realized to my delight that they were performing at this site, I immediately bought two extra rolls of film. The jousting occurs in a huge arena that seats 4500 people. There is stadium seating all around with an unencumbered view. However all three shows were packed, so you should arrive early if you want a seat that's close.

This troupe emphasizes high theatrics and intense and graphic battles over more historically accurate forms of jousting. They do three shows that comprise a story arc. There are two factions of knights--one good and one evil (I usually root for the bad guys). The first show consists of the usual demonstration of jousting skills--target practice, catching rings, etc. A fight eventually breaks out that is dealt with in the second show. There the two groups compete and combat each other for superiority. Unfortunately, another fight breaks out between a single member of each side. This is resolved by a joust to the death in the third performance. The final joust can be very grisly with plenty of blood bags and prosthetic gore put to use. An example of the intensity of their show occurred in the first act when the original fight broke out. One of the evil knights walks over to one of the good guys who is on horseback. He grabs him and lifts him off the horse and over his head, walks about for five seconds and throws his enemy to the ground! (Photo, below). I didn't know who to be more impressed with: the guy who did the throwing or the one who got thrown!!!

What was also nice was that the stables directly connect to the arena. After each show, patrons could watch as the horses were cooled down and attended to and converse with the knights.

The day at the faire ended with a drum jam that had every available drummer and dancer on site participating. They started around 5:30 and went non-stop until the closing cannon blew. A nice way to end the day!

Well that is all of my report. I strongly encourage all ren addicts out there to sample this faire. It does have something for everyone!

PHOTO GALLERY
MORE PHOTOS of the Arizona Renaissance Festival!

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