Academic texts have been written about the bond between knights and their steeds in chivalric romances. US clown Madeleine Rowe’s contribution to the field is an hour of whimsical horseplay with psychosexual trappings. Here, it’s the beast that mounts the knight – and rather vigorously, too.
Our host is clad in tunic and spangly chainmail jumpsuit. The hobby horse named Hermes is one of a number of toyshop props including a plastic Excalibur and crown used in daffy episodes of audience participation. Rowe’s script has a “methinks” here and a “prithee” there, the knight’s prophecy and quest unfolding to sweeping Celtic orchestrations across We’re Going on a Bear Hunt-style terrain. You’d be right to assume that sword innuendo is embraced when possible but Rowe also has fun with gender norms and social structures seen through an Arthurian lens.
