Knight, Knight

Ed Fringe 24

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Ed Fringe 24 -

Hell YEAH!!! This show ROCKS!!!!

Knight, Knight is the tale of a King Arthur-esque figure, who must pull a sword from a stone to become the King in Camelot, where they must wed, procreate, and go to war. Quite the odyssey then, and Madeleine Rowe is the PERFECT conduit for this mythic tale. 

Rowe is SO funny, pulling laughs from us in the audience as if they’re taking candy from a baby. A stray glance here, a weird night-terror there, for every move Rowe makes, as sure as (k)night follows day, laughs will be there. Their early commitment to a troubling, Equus-like romance is belly-laugh funny and those laughs continue to come thick and fast.

It’s a testament to the incredibly joyous atmosphere that Rowe cultivates in the room that so many audience members are more than willing to sign themselves up as knights of the round table. By that point in the show we are all bunched up happily in the palms of Rowe’s chain-mailed hands, ready to participate any which way they want us to. 

There’s also some really interesting ideas underpinning the show, a US perspective on our bat-shit, old-timey obsession with monarchs maybe? And there’s definitely something about masculinity in there too. I guess I’ll have to go back and watch it five more times to make sure I haven’t missed anything, and I would heartily implore you to do the same. 

I could watch Rowe opening a door, pulling a face and then closing the door on a loop for about ten hours. I could watch them slowly scoot along the floor to avoid their crowning for ages too. I could basically go back and watch this show over and over again til the end of Fringe and consider it a pretty successful year. 

Rowe has crafted something truly remarkable; I would gladly follow them into battle, mounted upon my own wooden hobby horse, any damn day of the week.

Knight, Knight is on at 20:50 until the 26th August (not 12th or 19th) at Underbelly George Square - tickets here.

FIVE STARS