The Bristol Renaissance Faire in Kenosha County, Wisconsin, is thrilling audiences with performances by Guido’s Academy of Theatrical Swordplay, a professional ensemble of stage combat artists including alumni, current students, and faculty from the Columbia College Chicago Theatre Department‘s acclaimed Stage Combat program.
Family-friendly exhibitions of theatrical swordplay and martial arts take place on the open-air Castle Keep stage of the “Ren Faire,” which is open Saturdays and Sundays off Interstate Hwy. 94 at the Illinois/Wisconsin border in the village of Bristol. Guido’s Academy gives four shows a day Saturdays and Sundays through August 1.
David Woolley
Guido’s Academy of Theatrical Swordplay is led by award-winning stage combat director David Woolley, aka “Guido,” the faculty coordinator of the Columbia College Theatre Department’s Stage Combat Minor program.
Woolley’s “academy” this season includes Columbia College alums Jackson Dougherty ’20 and Zac Richey ’21, both graduates of the Theatre Department’s BA Program in Musical Theatre. (Richey also has a Minor in Stage Combat.)
Ambria Campbell
Jenni Carroll
Also in the company are current Columbia College students Ambria Campbell (an Acting BA major with a Stage Combat minor), Megan Konieczka (an Acting BA major), Quinton Walker (an Acting BFA major with a Stage Combat minor), and Jenni Carroll (a Photography BA major with an Acting minor and a Stage Combat minor).
Guido’s Academy of Theatrical Swordplay (Photo: John Karpinsky)
Performances are directed by Stage Combat program instructors David Woolley and John McFarland.
