As I sat in the Barn waiting for the play to start, it was clear audience participation would be involved. Indeed, the whole play was directed and written by a member of the audience: Citizen George, a grocer, and his wife. They started off sitting in the back row, chatting to the rest of the audience, only to interrupt in the first minute and climb down the seating to sit nearer the stage, where they proceeded to cast their apprentice Rafe as the main character, the eponymous Knight of The Burning Pestle, and change the plot of the play to suit their whims. Rafe was played with stupendous American enthusiasm by Diederik van Wersch, who pulled faces, and hammed it up magnificently The Knight of the Burning Pestle fully embraced the ‘play within a play’ style, so beloved by both Jacobean writers and Dramasoc. It was described by The Globe’s artistic director, Dominic Dromgoole as “the most meta-play ever written”.
The cast of the ‘play’ coped well with this style, and the weaker characters were carried by the play within a play format: maybe they were just supposed to be like that? On the whole though, they coped admirably with a difficult script. Matt Roberts as Jaspar, possibly had the hardest part, ploughing on bravely as the terribly sincere romantic hero, battling with some rather silly rhyming couplets, but never once lacking conviction in a rather two dimensional role. Indeed, the romantic scenes were probably the weakest part, but this is more the fault of the script. It was rather like Shakespeare’s Pyramus and Thisby, only without the parody, it possibly could have done with a little more melodramatic style, even some over-acting. As it was, these scenes were saved from being too dull by the Citizen’s wife, who grimaced, gasped, and menacingly ate liquorice throughout. Daisy E.R. Hale was the highlight of the play in this part: flirting with the actors, screaming at surprises, and interrupting when the plot where she wanted it to. I can think of several plays I’ve seen where I’ve wished I had her audacity to stop and demand a quick rewrite. Her character could have been immensely annoying, but Hale carried it with a lightness of touch and silliness that made it a delight.
The direction was genuinely good, and managed to make the most of a limiting script, though some of the innuendos were too labored, which stopped them being anything more than mildly amusing.
Felicity Stephenson’s costumes were excellent; simple but very effective. The set used the same stage within a stage set up as The Threepenny Opera, and this worked well, with the one large curtain allowing for some funny (and some less funny) stunts. The sword fight was excellent as sparks, quite literally, flew, and in my opinion, it could have lasted a bit longer.
Laura Griffin is excellent as the chorus, and the thwarted director of the original play. She played all her various different roles with conviction and humour, while managing not to be overshadowed by van Wersch’s bombasticism. Joe D’angelo also deserves mention as Humphrey, Jasper’s foppish rival, who lisped and whimpered and camped it up excellently.
One of the most exciting parts of the evening was being allowed to stay in the Barn during the interval; we were even given oranges! Admittedly the choice of music made it feel like we were on hold for a Reformation helpline, but this was negated by the unparalleled joy of not being thrown out into the cold for the fifteen minute interval. The wheeled coffin was also an exciting, if not worrying innovation. I can see why they gave it wheels (and I’ve been assured by a member of Dramasoc that it is a real coffin, with a nameplate and everything), but when Lucy, the love interest, stepped into it, it was a very nervous moment as to whether it would go flying off across the stage.
Overall, this was a very funny play. A delightful revision break that won’t challenge you to consider the meaning of existence, or anything else. In the last scene the cast sing: “Is it not but mirth that keeps our bodies from the earth”, and I think that during exam period, this is truer than ever.