Cheek by Jowl/Moscow Pushkin Drama Theatre: The Knight of the Burning Pestle

Cheek by Jowl reunite with Moscow Pushkin Theatre ‘so electrifyingly intense they make your hair stand on end’ (The Times) for the first time since Measure for Measure in this outrageous dark comedy.

The London Merchant, a play about two dysfunctional families begins. But suddenly, from the audience, a grocer and his wife clamber onto the stage, explaining to the astonished actors that while they quite like the play, it could be better and more exciting. Apparently, singing, dancing, an exotic foreign location and the appearance of a knight are the missing ingredients. Luckily, their apprentice Rafe is just the man for the job.

Director Declan Donnellan and designer Nick Ormerod collaborate with Moscow’s Pushkin Theatre on Francis Beaumont’s subversive play within a play. The Knight of the Burning Pestle is a breathtaking comedy, hilarious and terrifying in its relevance to a post-expert world where everyone can be famous and anyone can write the story.

Performed in Russian with English surtitles