Kansas City filmmakers made movie at KC Renaissance Festival. Now, red carpet. Huzzah!

Pray thee read now this story of how two friends and fellow theatrical spirits in Kansas City — Jen Frank Klenke and Jessica Dressler — turned one of our city’s most popular autumnal traditions into a movie.

Perhaps you have visited this magical place?

The Kansas City Renaissance Festival — home of men in tights, corseted wenches and turkey legs with bludgeon-like girth — became their movie set last year.

Their indie film, “Rennie,” about a motley crew of ren fest performers and merchants trying to save their town from disaster, will be shown at 8 p.m. Friday and Saturday night at The Folly Theatre .

Attendees are welcome to walk the red carpet beginning at 7 p.m. both nights in Renaissance garb, black tie, jeans, banana costume, whatever. A lot of “rennies” — fair performers — are expected.

The come-as-you-like dress code reflects the spirit of their valentine to the quirky, anachronistic subculture of renaissance festivals where everyone is free to be what they please.

“There’s a line towards the end of the film that basically everyone wants to be loved and be appreciated and belong somewhere as their true selves,” said Klenke, who wrote, produced and directed the movie with Dressler, who plays a leading role in the film.

“And in this place that is centered around pretending to be someone you’re not, people are free to be themselves.”

The friends began talking about co-writing a movie during COVID, when their theatrical gigs slowed down.

Kansas City audiences know Dressler as her theatrical alter ego, “Dirty Dorothy,” and as co-producer of Late Night Theatre with fellow veteran performer Ron Megee, who is also in “Rennie.”

Dressler for years wanted to write something about KC’s ren fest. She spent many autumns of her life there, where she worked her way up from selling T-shirts at age 14 to playing Juliet and then, when she was old enough, squeezed herself into those bosom-lifting brothel corsets.

Klenke never worked at the festival, but like many generations of Kansas Citians visited with family and friends.

“And then once I became a parent, started taking our kids out there more because it’s just a cool place where you can kinda walk around and people watch, kids can do stuff,” Klenke said.

“And watching my kids develop into creative beings themselves I started getting really into the renaissance festival and how it’s so welcoming. It’s such a safe space for people to express themselves creatively. Like, I see people out there dressed as Batman ...

“It’s just so free from ridicule and seeing kids out there who, likely, if they do that stuff in their everyday settings they’re not going to be treated very well for their ... fanaticism.

“So being a mom, I just love my kids experiencing that, where everyone can be appreciated for their differences and everyone can be totally what they’re into and people can be nice about it.”

They were surprised to find few other films — HBO has a documentary, “Ren Faire” — exist about renaissance festivals, Klenke said, given how there are nearly 300 in the country, 70-some of them in California alone. They run year-round attracting hundreds of thousands of visitors.

“The closest was ‘Robin Hood: Men in Tights’ and “Monty Python,’ Klenke said.

A cue from Christopher Guest

They shot the movie in mockumentary style , ala the work of Christopher Guest in the comedies “Spinal Tap” and “Best in Show.”

“His movies were our main inspiration because he really does make you fall for these characters and you learn something about a subculture that you may not know,” said Klenke.

In their movie, that subculture exists on a Venn diagram of people interested in historical re-enactments, mysticism and cosplay, “a mishmash of all these subcultures together,” she said.

They wrote the story of a fictional town named Overnook that hosts an annual ren fest. The fair’s oracle predicts a huge storm will blow through town after she dies.

Alas, she dies young.

Alas again, the dam protecting the town is incomplete and the town’s festival must have a bang-up season so the project can be finished. The drama is seen through the eyes of news anchor Katy Cathie.

The movie is stuffed with ren fest archetypes.

“We’ve got the brazen old lesbian who sells leather goods, the milk maiden,” Klenke said. “We’ve got the queen who is a local actress who takes herself far too seriously. Then there’s a barbarian. We’ve got a brothel and we do have a Romeo and Juliet, and the sweet old man who runs the games.”

As it turned out, the folks in Bonner Springs were happy to let them use the real event as their set, Klenke said.

“We made it really easy to miss us,” during filming, Klenke said. “No one was forced to be on camera. And, there were a couple of (visitors) who we were like, ‘that’s an incredible outfit. Do you want to walk through the scene?’”

They filmed during the festival last year in late September and early October, then moved to the campgrounds at Longview Lake in Lee’s Summit, where the folks out there rescheduled their annual Christmas in the Park show to accommodate filming, Klenke said.

“It was such a Kansas City collaboration,” she said.

After the two showings at the Folly, the movie won’t be seen anytime soon as it makes the movie festival rounds. The hope, of course, is for indie magic to strike.

Plan B? Maybe it could stream somewhere, Klenke said.

The KC Renaissance Festival runs three more days , Saturday through Monday, and then must away until next year.