WINONA, Minn. — The Saint Mary’s Department of Theatre and Dance will stage the comedic parody “The Knight of the Burning Pestle” Thursday through Sunday, Oct. 31-Nov. 3, in Page Theatre.
With a modern-day theatricality remarkably ahead of its time, this witty comic satire of theatre (and its audience) contains much revelry, popular songs, and audience interaction. Shakespeare’s contemporary (and sometimes collaborator) Francis Beaumont penned this crazy comedy around 1607.
In the show, a company of actors who are performing “The London Merchant” are forced to recreate their production on the spot, indulging the whimsical impulses of their audience and enduring their constant interruptions while improvising alternate characters and adapting their romantic comedy into an action-adventure parody. According to director Walter Elder, it’s a contemporary classic mashup of Mel Brooks, Monty Python, Cervantes, and Shakespeare.
Shows are 7:30 p.m. Thursday, Oct. 31, through Saturday, Nov. 2, and 3 p.m. Sunday, Nov. 3, at Page Theatre.
Tickets are $10, $5 for students and seniors and are available at the Saint Mary’s Performance Center box office, 507-457-1715 from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. weekdays or online at pagetheatre.org.
*Contains adult themes.