Knight of the Burning Pestle

The laughter at times was tsunami-like. Once the audience gave in to their confusion, they were (literally) rolling in the aisles. Each performance, the Knight chose a lady-love from the audience; we had a jealous husband almost ready to beat up the puckering Darren, a woman who shimmied, and one who lifted up her shirt and flashed the audience. As I mentioned, this play is unique. (And maybe so are our Marin audiences!)

Many of the critics thought the play was too silly, and one complained that the actors were having too much fun. When the (equally unique) Dana Gioia, Chairman of the National Endowment for the Arts, was in town with his family and chose to see this little-done Jacobean play, we were biting our fingernails. We're still not sure what Dana thought of the performance, but his teenage son Ted claimed "it was the most 'entertaining' play he had ever seen." It was certainly a production that everyone involved with won't soon forget.