Jenji Kohan Is Making A Series About A Renaissance Fair Because Why Not
There comes a point in every showrunner’s career where they no longer have to pander to the masses and can finally work on the weird, freaky, niche material that they’ve always wanted to make. For Jenji Kohan, that time is now.
Kohan is the creator of the wildly successful shows “Weeds,” “Orange Is the New Black,” and, most recently, “GLOW.” It seems that everything she touches turns to gold — and that’s probably why, when she signed on to a show about a Renaissance Faire troupe, Lifetime immediately issued a green light.
The series, created by Jamie Denbo and titled “American Princess,” centers on an Upper East Side socialite who flees her countryside wedding after finding out that her fiancé is cheating on her. She happens upon a Renaissance Faire troupe in a meadow somewhere and, as one does, joins them as their newest “wench in waiting” to escape her ruined life.
Will this particular Renaissance Faire be set in the reign of Queen Elizabeth I or King Henry VIII? Will the protagonist’s new life involve participation in the classic Renaissance Faire game “Drench A Wench”?
And most importantly, will “American Princess” do for Renaissance Faires what “50 Shades of Gray” did for light BDSM?
For the sake of the American entertainment economy, let us hope so.
Becky Scott is the editor of The Schmooze. Follow her on Twitter, @arr_scott
A message from our CEO & publisher Rachel Fishman Feddersen
I hope you appreciated this article. Before you go, I’d like to ask you to please support the Forward’s award-winning, nonprofit journalism during this critical time.
At a time when other newsrooms are closing or cutting back, the Forward has removed its paywall and invested additional resources to report on the ground from Israel and around the U.S. on the impact of the war, rising antisemitism and polarized discourse.
Readers like you make it all possible. Support our work by becoming a Forward Member and connect with our journalism and your community.
— Rachel Fishman Feddersen, Publisher and CEO