Arts & Culture
Playing Fair
Longtime Renaissance Festival performers play real-life roles of husband and wife.
Though the story and characters at the Maryland Renaissance Festival vary from year to year, two performers have stayed consistent for nearly 30 years: Mary Ann Jung and Tom Plott.
The couple met back in 1987 and have been reenacting history ever since.
“That first year we met, they put us together as husband and wife,” Plott says. “Then we followed suit in real life.”
They have played a variety of characters over the years, including Queen Anne Boleyn and Sir Charles Brandon, but recently they’ve decided to mix it up.
“I learned about an Irish sea captain named Grace O’Malley, so I created Captain Jean the Pirate Queen based off of her,” Jung says. “We do a peewee pirate show and I have people walk a fake plank. It’s certainly fun.”
As for Plott, he plays a hermit because “that’s the last person you’d expect to see at a crowded festival.”
The couple says they have always loved working the Renaissance Festival—this year from August 23-October 19.
“It’s a fun way to stretch yourself as an actor,” Plott says. “Once you hit the grounds, you are on all day long.”