What’s with all the drama?

Old Town turns into a miniature Broadway once more during the fourth annual Renegade Theatre Festival

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According to founder and co-coordinator Chad Badgero, the Renegade Theater Festival began as a “naïve attempt to try to create (more) theater” in Lansing.

“I was just like, ‘Well, there’s no theater festival in Lansing. So I guess I’ll just make one,’” Badgero says.

Working under the loosely encompassing mission statement of providing “as much theater as possible in a short amount of time” for free, Badgero says Renegade answered a persistent question among theater people: Where can you perform pieces that don’t fit anywhere else?

“People would come to me, ‘Oh my gosh, I have this really great play. I don’t know where to do it. Maybe Peppermint Creek wants to do it.’” Badgero says. “Before that, it was either too short (or) needed work, or just couldn’t work in our season. Renegade’s been so awesome because so much can happen and work in Renegade.” 

The loaves and fishes miracle of it is that everything does happen at Renegade. All seven venues in Old Town donate their space. As a result, patrons can sample anything from concert readings to almost full-scale productions performed by community, collegiate and professional theater companies.

As expected, “original” in the context of Renegade often implies dark and edgy content that provokes audiences to ask questions. For theater on the fringe, look no further than the offerings by Lansing Community College and Michigan State University.

Deborah Keller, LCC adjunct professor of theater, directs “Sarah Kane: An Experiment in Life,” in which, according to the show description, the characters “fight for the truth behind the fog (and) explore the fears or traumas that may obscure our desires.”

MSU theater Rob Roznowski directs “Good Boys and True,” a drama about class and social identity set in an all-boys private prep school. 

But co-coordinator Melissa Kaplan insists much of the festival is family-friendly. “There’s a lot of color and activity kids will enjoy,” Kaplan says, pointing out Renegade Kids, featuring pieces from companies like All-of-us Express, Mid-Michigan Family Theatre and Kellie Stonebrook, who will perform a puppet play created by Bruce Bennett called “The Adventures of Wanda and Wendel.” 

Puppets are not just for kids, as Renegade Theater regular Fred Engelgau continually proves. He’s presenting his fourth incarnation of Puppet Theater, which Kaplan describes: “There’s a live host that runs the Puppet Theater, played by Brian de Vries, who walks a fine line between what is human and what is the puppet world.” 

Badgero says Puppet Theater embodies the spirit of Renegade.

“Renegade really kind of gave (producers like Engelgau) the opportunity to try whatever, because the stakes, specifically monetarily, are so low. If it bombs and no one likes it, that doesn’t matter. You’re not out anything.” 

The Renegade spirit expanded last year with the addition of Renegade Now, an entity organized by co-coordinator Paige Dunckel that is devoted to fostering new playwrights.

“Originally, I had come up with this idea of starting a Great Lakes playwright festival,” Dunckel says.

“I had gotten ahold of all of these area theaters to see if they would be interested. Then Chad said, ’This would really be a great fit for Renegade and it would also give Renegade an opportunity to expand outside the local community.’ I couldn’t have asked for anything better.”

Performing in the Red Cedar Friends Meeting House, Renegade Now scripts are selected by Dunckel, who then “funnels” them to directors to interpret. The goal is to nurture all of the talent involved: New playwrights receive audience feedback and audiences witness budding talent.

Dunckel says that all six of the scripts in this year’s series are very good, but one that stood out was “Fugue” by Audra Lord.

“What she’s done is used music notes within the script to get a rhythm of the silences, and also the rhythm of actors’ voices. She’s just done a very interesting approach to this, and the story itself is intriguing.”

With Dunckel running Renegade Now, that leaves Badgero, Kaplan and Katie Doyle in charge of coordinating everything else. Musical acts such as Cathy McElroy, Cuatro Sur and Wisaal serenade patrons in the Turner Mini Park.

The plays are organized according to performer needs, tone and content and running times, with shorter pieces (less than 90 minutes) starting at 7 p.m. and longer pieces starting at 9 p.m. The deliberate scheduling allows for audience feedback and travel time to other locations. It also allows actors to “turn their sets,” or in one instance, clean up the paint. 

Badgero says that although there are no content boundaries for Renegade pieces, Paul Bourne’s original piece “Finger Paint” presented a unique situation this year. In the play, one of the actors is literally painted by another actor on a stage that includes a “splatter zone.”

“I was like, ‘you can do whatever you want as long as there is no paint on anything when it’s done,’ because naturally the extent is that the venue stays safe and that no one is getting hurt.” 

Beyond that, Badgero encourages all participants to “try whatever (and) go big.”

Both Badgero and Kaplan sound pleased with the results from prior years and look forward to further growth. “If we got 50 (plays) submitted or 50 groups, we’ll just find 50 places to put them,” Badgero says.

“In that regard, Renegade is completely what I want it to be. It’s just a festival that brings us all together in one location and celebrates theater.”

For updates and more information, visit www.renegadetheatrefestival.org

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