BSF Closes 2019 Season With Bawdy Classic

Baltimore Shakespeare Factory (BSF) will close their 2019 season with the Baltimore premiere of the 1607 parody play, The Knight of the Burning Pestle. This rarely performer sendup of courtly romance was penned by Francis Beaumont, a contemporary of William Shakespeare.

A normal play about a London grocer is interrupted by the audience and rewritten on the fly to become an increasingly absurd chivalric epic that leaves no target un-pricked. Each year, BSF caps their season of Shakespeare with a play written by another playwright of the Elizabethan-Jacobean period. The Bard himself never wrote anything this bawdy or satirical, and much can be learned about the comedies of the period by viewing The Knight of the Burning Pestle.

Founding Artistic Director Tom Delise describes the play as a "raucous medieval romp" and adds, "If you like Monty Python, you will love The Knight of the Burning Pestle." The production is assistant directed by BSF Resident Company Member Grayson Owen, and stars local performers Katie Rey Bogdan, Cheryl Campo, David Forrer, Warren Harris, Jim Knost, Amber Lipman, Jackie Madejski, Sarah Robinson, Yamaelis Rosas-Sanchez, and Laura Weeldreyer, with BSF Resident Company Members Kerry Brady & Adam Henrickson.

Baltimore Shakespeare Factory will present The Knight of the Burning Pestle on its Elizabethan-style Hampden stage Fridays, Saturdays, and Sundays from November 1-24, 2019. Recommended for ages 13 & up.

The Knight of the Burning Pestle
Directed by Tom Delise
November 1-24, 2019
Fridays and Saturdays at 8:00pm, Sundays at 4:00pm; Pre-show entertainment begins 30 minutes before showtime.

The Kestrel at St. Mary's
3900 Roland Avenue, Baltimore, 21211

Tickets are available on the BSF website, https://www.baltimoreshakespearefactory.org/knightoftheburningpestle

Opening Night (November 1) is Pay-What-You-Will! For all other performances, ticket prices are $24 for adults, and $19 for students, teachers, artists, veterans, and senior citizens (55+).

Each Saturday performance will be preceded by a lecture by a guest artist or academic, or a member of the BSF artistic staff. Lectures are free to attend and begin at 7pm.

Baltimore Shakespeare Factory (BSF) produces five shows each year at The Great Hall at St. Mary's in Hampden. It is the objective of BSF to recreate, as closely as is possible, the staging conditions, spirit, and atmosphere created by Shakespeare's theatre company. BSF is a proud member of the Shakespeare Theatre Association, the Hampden Village Merchants Association, and the Greater Baltimore Cultural Alliance.