The Knight
of the Burning Pestle

Written by Francis Beaumont
Performed in Russian with surtitles
Running time 1 hour 40 minutes, no interval
2019

Cheek by Jowl reunites with the Moscow Pushkin Drama Theatre on Francis Beaumont’s subversive and darkly funny play within a play. The Knight of the Burning Pestle is a breath-taking comedy, hilarious and terrifying in its relevance to a post-expert world where everyone can be famous and anyone can write the story.

The London Merchant begins, a thoughtful drama about dysfunctional families. But suddenly, from the audience, a grocer and his wife clamber onto the stage and politely explain to the astonished actors that they are a little bit bored and wouldn’t it be better to cheer the evening up with exotic locations and a Knight – indeed their apprentice grocer Rafe is just the man for the job.