Phoenix Theatre Ensemble Presents Staged Reading of WH Auden's Translation of THE KNIGHTS OF THE ROUND TABLE

Yes, it's King Arthur, Queen Guinevere, and Lancelot in Camelot but not as you might expect them. Written in 1937 when Jean Cocteau was emerging from opium addiction, he dreamed Camelot as a barren wasteland. King Arthur is a bumbling fool. Queen Guinevere is teetering toward religious fanaticism. Sir Lancelot is wracked with guilt over his affair with the Queen and Galahad is pure outsider hero. And this was the basis for this one-of-a-kind retelling of the story of Camelot, a genuine rarity in the English translation by celebrated and noted poet WH Auden.

Part manic farce and part mystical adventure, THE KNIGHTS OF THE ROUND TABLE is being presented as a staged reading on Sunday, March 26 at 3:00 pm at Downtown Art, 70 East 4th Street (next door to La Mama). This reading is supported by the Florence Gould Foundation.

The Knights of the Round Table is being directed by NYIT nominee Karen Case Cook. The cast includes John Lenartz as Arthur, Elise Stone as Guinevere, Morgan Rosse as Blandine, John Cosentino as Segramor, Desmond Confoy as Gawain, Vinson German as Lancelot, Josh Tyson as Galahad, and Craig Smith as Merlin. Original music and sound by Ellen Mandel and Light Design by Darielle Shandler.

Tickets are $25 and may be purchased at 212-352-3101 or at PhoenixTheatreEnsemble.org.

Line Drawing by Jean Cocteau