The Knight of the Burning Pestle Full of Mirth & Delight

by Francis Beaumont

1 - 21 December 2016 #KBP

Francis Beaumont, playwright Francis Beaumont was born in 1584 at the

family seat of Grace Dieu in Leicestershire.

His father was Sir Francis Beaumont, a justice

in the Court of Common Pleas, and his

mother was Anne, daughter of Sir George

Pierrepont. The older Sir Francis died in 1598.

After his father’s death, Beaumont decided

on a legal career, and entered the Inner

Temple, one of the four Inns of Court in

London, in 1600.

Beaumont was soon caught up in the poetical

and theatrical world in London, however,

learning his craft from Ben Jonson and others. Beaumont’s first poem, Salmacis

and Hermaphroditus, was published in 1602, when Beaumont was 18.

We often think of ‘Beaumont and Fletcher’ in the same breath. Beaumont’s

collaboration with John Fletcher dates to around 1605. It was long thought that

the pair were responsible for The Knight of

the Burning Pestle, but it has since been

attributed to Beaumont alone. Their first real

success was the co-written Philaster in 1609,

performed by the King’s Men at the Globe

and Blackfriars. The pair lived together in

Southwark.

In 1613, Beaumont married the heiress

Ursula Isley, and they had two daughters.

Sadly, however, Beaumont suffered a stroke

in 1613, and wrote no more plays. He died in

1616 – the same year as Shakespeare, though

Beaumont was 20 years younger – and was

buried in Westminster Abbey.

The Knight of the Burning Pestle The Knight of the Burning Pestle was first performed in 1607 at the Blackfriars

indoor theatre, by a troop of child actors – and it was considered such a failure

that it closed after one performance. There were no further productions during

Beaumont’s lifetime.

The play was printed in 1613 by Walter Burre, who attributed the performance

failure to the audience not recognising Beaumont’s ironic intent. Beaumont

probably felt confident of his audience at the time, as many audience members

were drawn from the nearby Inns of Court and had a history of performing their

own satires. Perhaps, however, they themselves felt satirised…? There is an

emphasis on monetary transactions in the play, and on a sense of unearned

entitlement, which may have offended more than just the newly wealthy,

middle-class merchants represented by the Grocer and his wife.

Featuring two plays within a play was unique to Beaumont, as well as the way

he wrote the interludes and act breaks into the play itself. Other aspects of the

play were already familiar, though, including actors being part of the audience,

and lowly apprentices transforming into knights errant. The play seems

surprisingly post-modern to us, but it wasn’t wholly new in early-modern times.

There is a chance the failure was due to a poor performance. Given a longer

run, perhaps both actors and audience could have settled in more comfortably.

The Knight of the Burning Pestle was a contemporary of the novel Don Quixote

by Miguel de Cervantes, which Beaumont may have read in a translated

manuscript circulating in 1607. Burre claims that the play was conceived and

written in only eight days, which to this writer suggests Beaumont might have

heard about the ‘mad’ knight of la Mancha – perhaps via Jonson – and been

swept away by inspiration.

The play was revived in 1635 by the Queen’s Men, and performed a few times

before the Interregnum. It was revived again after the Restoration, and was

even given a new poetic Prologue spoken by Nell Gwyn!

Modern productions began in 1898 with a group of Yale University students of

Jacobean drama, and it has been popular with college students ever since.

The Main Characters

Georgiana citizen of London and grocer

Nell wife to Georgiana

Rafe apprentice grocer and sometime

Knight of the Burning Pestle

played by Dale

Luce daughter to Venturewell

played by Verity

Humphrey friend to Venturewell and suitor for Luce

played by Jeremy

a Celebrity

Jasper apprentice to Venturewell

played by Topher

The Speakers' Names Georgiana, citizen of London and grocer

Nell, wife to Georgiana

Rafe, apprentice grocer and sometime Knight of the Burning Pestle;

played by Dale

The London Merchant Sam, who speaks the prologue, dances and sings

Venturewell, merchant

Jasper, apprentice to Venturewell;

played by Topher

Luce, daughter to Venturewell;

played by Verity

Humphrey, friend to Venturewell and suitor for Luce;

played by Jeremy, a Celebrity

Mistress Merrythought, mother to Jasper

Michael, younger brother of Jasper

Old Master Merrythought, father to Jasper

The Knight of the Burning Pestle Tim, a squire

Frank, a dwarf

Sundry others, including: a tapster; a host; a barber; a messenger;

various serving boys; four men to carry a coffin

And featuring: Pompiona, daughter to the King of Moldavia

List of Scenes Backstage The London

Merchant The Knight of the Burning Pestle

Half and Quarter Calls Induction: Prologue

Tiring House Act One:

Venturewell’s House;

Merrythought’s House

Grocer’s Shop

Interlude 1

Green Room;

Tiring House

Act Two:

Venturewell’s House;

Waltham Forest;

Merrythought’s House

Waltham Forest;

Bell Inn

Interlude 2: Privy Break

Service Yard;

Tiring House

Act Three:

Waltham Forest;

Merrythought’s House

Bell Inn;

Barber’s Shop

Men’s Dressing Room Interlude 3

Act Four: London;

Venturewell’s House;

Merrythought’s House

King of Moldavia’s

Court

Corridor Interlude 4 May Day

Act Five:

Venturewell’s House;

Merrythought’s House

Moorfields

Epilogue; Exeunt

The Jig

Backstage and Beyond Finis