The Knight of the Burning Pestle February 17, 2011

Written in Elizabethan English by Sir Francis Beaumont, "The Knight of the Burning Pestle" is pure good times. After 400 years it still makes a great comedy even for the most contemporary audience.
Director Richard Mazda muses that "The Knight of The Burning Pestle" is arguably “the funniest play of all the Elizabethan and Jacobean comedies”. “The Knight of the Burning Pestle” is a satire on plays, playwriting and actors.
An unwitting theatre troupe gets more than they bargained for when an honorable citizen Grocer George and his wife, Nell, attend the theatre for the first time they manage to pervert the intentions of the actors to present “The London Merchant.” The grocer and his wife demand to see a play about a Grocer-Errant battling bloodthirsty giants, wooing exotic princesses, and leading armies into battle. They insist their apprentice, Rafe, should play the lead role and then begin to come up with fanciful plotlines and scenarios without pause. The players do their best to maintain their dignity and continue their play as they are forced to perform impromptu scenes with Rafe, the quixotic knight.
Director Richard Mazda says, “This is the funniest theatre piece written during this time period and everyone who enjoys classical theatre or who is a fan of theatre in general simply must see this show.” Mazda incorporates puppetry, dance, and traces of 20th Century British comedy (Benny Hill, Tommy Cooper, Monty Python) to the classical text and the results are hilarious. Don’t Miss It!
Performances are February 17-20, 23-25, 27 and March 2-5 @ 8PM, with a matinee March 5 @ 3PM. There will be no performance on February 26.
Produced and directed by Richard Mazda for The Queens Players. Stage Manager: Rachel Pfenningwerth; Costumes: Helyn Messenger; Photographer: Sean MacBride Murray; Videographer: Perry Katz.
This Queens Players production features Alex Cape, Alex Stine, Ariel Rosen-Brown, Avery Manuel, Brian Walters, Helyn Messenger, Jonathan Emerson, Joshua Warr, Kate Siepert, Philip J. Rossi, Randy Warshaw, Ross Pivec, Shannon Pritchard and Thom Brown III.