We have been asked, time and again, “Why are you setting the show in 1905, specifically?” There is not a simple answer. Truth be told, the first draft of what you are about to read began as ten pages of explanation. Instead, I have boiled it all down to something relatively short and palatable.
Introduction – “Foundations”
When starting out, every themed theatrical event must have a solid foundation. If it doesn’t, it is liable to become “mushy” and degenerate into a miasma of “Too Many Chefs” and no unified vision. When the Renaissance Pleasure Faire was created, they had to decide on a particular era in which to set it. Even through the true Italian Renaissance period occurred nearly a century before, the mid-late 1500’s was chosen so as to include the era of William Shakespeare. The Queen was Elizabeth I, we wore ruffs and flat caps and laid a firm foundation to build upon. When The Dickens Fair began, the decision was made to set the era during Dickens’ lifetime and be the postcard vision of a Victorian Christmas. By picking a solid timeframe, these shows came off as being very professional…and believable. Patrons believed they were taken back in time, because everyone participating was locked into a particular timeframe. Every playground needs rules, and sticking to a historical period or theme helps ground that world (that playground) into a believable reality.
Many bemoan a “disintegration” of the “purity” of Ren Faires and talk about the “glory days” of Agoura and Blackpoint. The reason those years have such a firm hold on our memories is because they were firmly planted in a unified reality. Today many Faires have become “lax” in their approach to history…to the point where the average Joe Patron feels lost in an insider’s party of mish-moshy costumes, vinyl “easy-up” tents, and no real sense of a place or a time. It’s not “Elizabeth’s England” anymore – it’s just a “Ren Faire”.
So, it is my personal goal to give The Great Pan-Kinetic Exposition a FIRM foundation for all to stand on.
Part One – The Era Is Unique
But why 1905 “specifically”?
1905, in particular, represents the true turning point from what we consider the Victorian Era to the 20th Century. It’s the transitional year when politically, socially, artistically, sociologically, and culturally, we, as a nation, were thrown into the “high gear” of “progress”. We were discarding the beliefs and dogmas that had governed our lives since the 18th Century and were re-creating ourselves as a people. It was also one of the last “pleasant” moments in our history as a nation. We hadn’t experienced the horrors of two World Wars…We hadn’t even been fully exposed to the frailty of Victorian ideals (best defined by the ruins of San Francisco after the Great Quake). We were still idealistic, full of life and curiosity, and patriotism.
So many changes were going on at this time. The world was shrinking due to new forms of communication. Human beings could move faster by car…even FLY! Inventors were being deified. Great leaps in technology and medicine were being made. Women were on the cusp of equality…and many other races and creeds’ need for equality were finally being put into the spotlight!
Author John F. Kasson, when discussing the “heyday” of New York’s Coney Island, actually summed it up best in his book “Amusing the Millions” –
“Coney’s heyday thus coincided with a critical period in American history, when the nation came of age as an urban-industrial society and its citizens eagerly but painfully adjusted to the new terms of American life. Changing economic and social conditions helped to create the basis of a new mass culture which would gradually emerge in the first decades of the twentieth century. At the turn of the century this culture was still in the process of formation and not fully incorporated into the life of society as a whole. Its purest expression at this time lay in the realm of commercial amusements, which were creative symbols of the new cultural order, helping to knit a heterogeneous audience into a cohesive whole…”(ie. This era was the birth of “Mass Consumption”, in which industries were built with the sole purpose of producing great quantities of goods, entertainments, and foodstuffs for a “hungry” public.)”
We, as “Faire Folk” tend to re-enact distant lands and peoples, and ignore the rich history behind our comparatively young nation. Now we have the opportunity to break this habit. There is also something uniquely American about the era of 1905. We carried “The Big Stick” across the world; and were bold, brash and willing to wield it. We, as a nation, were also inspired and united in admiration by the endeavors of men and women like Tesla, Edison, Helen Keller, Marie Curie, and Houdini. We had “cowboy royalty” in the White House in the form of Theodore Roosevelt…whose youthful exploits were as celebrated as any popular dime novel character. This was one of the first eras of “Mass Celebrity”, in which new forms of communication allowed us all to share in the experience of great artists and inventors.
Something else was going on…America was defining itself as a dominant nation in the world. Immigration through Ellis Island was at a high point in 1905…with thousands of souls pouring onto our shores for a new chance at life – because they saw America as a land of opportunity.
As the Producers of Pan-Kinetic, we are, obviously, happy to accommodate certain discrepancies in dates to greater theatrical effect – but on a case-by-case basis…and only in a limited range of dates (1890’s-1905).
We are going to try to avoid things that occurred 1906 or later. 1906 was a year of great upheaval in the World. Russia’s Revolution had transformed all of Eastern Europe into a powder keg. The Great Quake of San Francisco affected the economy and public confidence much like 9-11 did. We should view 1906 as the darker “other side of the fence”, where waits the 20th Century ready to devour our innocence.
Part Three – Truth Is Stranger than Fiction!
To “Steampunk” or Not to “Steampunk”… That is the question. Not long after we announced the Pan-Kinetic Expo, we received dozens of questions regarding characters, displays, etc. in the Steampunk genre.
Although what we all seem to consider “Steampunk” has been around since the mid 1800’s (with the advent of writers like Jules Verne), the actual genre is a late 20th Century concoction that has been building up in popularity under a slow boil. When books like “The Difference Engine” and “League of Extraordinary Gentlemen” came around, suddenly “Steampunk” began to establish its hold on the imaginations of millions.
To put it simply – “Steampunk” is to Victorian events what High Fantasy (D&D, Lord of the Rings) is to Renaissance Faires. It’s a fun element of fantasy. I love fantasy. Who doesn’t? I love seeing the dragon and troll costumes at Faire. That being said…I have found it INCREDIBLY hard to build a solid themed show around fantasy – because it is impossible to unite everyone 100% on the “rules” of that world. History is written in stone. It happened, and that’s that. It’s very easy to set the “rules” of something like a Civil War re-enactment, because the evidence of history is there for all to see. Fantasy is whatever the imagination creates (which is a beautiful thing, artistically). No two people imagine things the same way, and that can kill a major themed event (I have actually heard heated arguments between fantasy costumers as to what elf ears should look like) because it’s harder to get the majority behind fantasy.
Many of the concepts, inspirations, and scientific principals behind “Steampunk” have their roots in the turn of the century. This is when the world stopped viewing scientific endeavors as “magic tricks” (and even sorcery) and began to be viewed as great achievements that could benefit mankind. There are many amazing little facts about the people, inventions, and incidents that shaped the 20th Century.
For example:
- Did you know that Harry Houdini was the first man to fly over Australia?
- Did you know that Sarah Bernhardt had an insatiable crush on Nikola Tesla?
- Did you know that Alexander Graham Bell tried to sabotage the Wright Bros.’ flight over Kitty Hawk?
- Did you know that Thomas Edison was crafting a machine to talk to the dead?
This is just a tiny sample of the goings-on of the era we’ve chosen to set the Pan-Kinetic Expo. We feel that, although the characters of fiction (Captain Nemo, Mina Harker, Joseph Cavor, Sherlock Holmes…etc.) are marvelous icons that inspire us all, the people who inspired them (Narcis Monturiol Estarriol , Gertrude Bell, The Wright Bros., Arthur Conan Doyle…etc.) have a lot more to offer theatrically.
We are not against “Steampunk” by any means – the era and technology set the tone for our event as being very “Steampunk”-friendly. However, we would like to try and populate our event with the historical figures (and there are a lot of them to choose from) before we begin dipping into the world of fiction. For fictional characters that have become “icons” of the era, we are considering some compromises. One scenario we have considered is casting actors to portray Arthur Conan Doyle and William Gillette (who was performing Sherlock Holmes on stage at this time) and have THEM play the part of our world’s Holmes and Watson (except…Doyle was the smarter of the two…so it could be a fun play on public perceptions with Gillette being the “front man” and Doyle the “brains”).
To go back to a Renaissance Faire example, I look at what many consider to be the “glory years” of Agoura and Blackpoint with Luisa Puig as Elizabeth I and Robert Young as Robert Dudley, Earl of Leicester. They were both solidly historical figures (as were the hundreds of characters that surrounded them during “Queen’s Show”) AND were still very entertaining. There is always a way to make history entertaining and informative, and we hope that this new event will spark an interest in those of us who have become jaded over the years (actors and patrons alike).
Conclusion
We feel that the Great Pan-Kinetic Exposition will, like the era we hope to portray, introduce us to a world of new possibilities in characters, environments, inventions, food and entertainments. But it cannot happen unless we all, at least, understand why this era is worth bringing back to life. I hope that this brief introduction to the era surrounding 1905 will inspire you to research this amazing time in American History.
Because, remember: Steampunk truth is more amazing than Steampunk fiction!
To Learn More about The Great Pan-Kinetic Exposition…visit the website:
http://www.pankineticexpo.com/
Peter Overstreet
The Great Pan-Kinetic Expo 