Red Bull Theater Sets Cast for THE KNIGHT OF THE BURNING PESTLE 'Revelation Reading'

Red Bull Theater today announced the complete cast for their next Revelation Reading on Monday November 14th (7:30pm) at the Lucille Lortel Theatre (121 Christopher Street): Francis Beaumont's THE KNIGHT OF THE BURNING PESTLE, directed by Everett Quinton and featuring Matt Baxter Luceno, Arnie Burton, Sofia Cheyenne, Christian DeMarais, Ryan Garbayo, Phil Gillen, Chris Johnson, Christina Pumariega, Socorro Santiago, Thom Sesma, Jenne Vath, Charlayne Woodard, and Daniel Yaiullo. Remaining tickets are available at www.redbulltheater.com or by phone at (212) 352-3101.

This master-spoof of chivalry in Elizabethan romantic drama is a gleeful romp from marriage comedy to meta-theatrical satire and Monty Pythonesque madcap farce. A play about the elopement of star-crossed lovers, called "The London Merchant" is about to be performed, when a citizen and his wife interrupt from the audience, complaining that the play will misrepresent the middle-class citizens of the city. When they storm the stage and demand that their apprentice, Rafe, play a role, the Knight of the Burning Pestle is born and his outrageous quests begin to take over the "London Merchant" in hilariously disruptive ways.

Francis Beaumont was born in Leicestershire in 1584 and moved to London to enter Inner Temple in 1600. While studying to be lawyer, Beaumont published the erotic poem "Salmacis and Hermaphroditus" (1602), but soon turned his hand to the stage. A friend and acolyte of Ben Jonson (for whose Volpone he wrote commendatory verse), he went on to form one of the most famous playwriting partnerships in English literary history with John Fletcher. The pair collaborated on a series of plays for The King's Men (Shakespeare's Company), which were performed at The Globe, The Blackfriars, and the court of James I. Yet it is the solo-authored The Knight of the Burning Pestle, apparently a flop on its first performance by the Children of the Revels at Blackfriars in 1607, upon which Beaumont's reputation as a playwright restS. Beaumont left London around 1613, and died in 1616, the same year as Shakespeare.

Red Bull Theater's OBIE Award-winning Revelation Readings present staged readings of new and rarely performed classic plays from all eras and cultures. With the Jacobean plays of Shakespeare and his contemporaries as the cornerstone of our mission, Red Bull Theater is dedicated to the rediscovery and re-investigation of classics from all eras and cultures, and to the development of new plays of heightened language and classical themes. Revelation Readings provides a unique opportunity to hear these plays performed by many of the finest actors in New York.

Revelation Readings are Monday evenings at 7:30 PM, at the Lucille Lortel Theatre (121 Christopher Street, between Bleecker and Hudson Streets). Tickets for Revelation Readings are $42, with Premium Seats available at $64. For complete list of Readings and up-to-date cast information for upcoming Readings, visit www.redbulltheater.com.

Red Bull Theater is currently presenting the acclaimed production of William Shakespeare's Coriolanus, directed by Michael Sexton, at the Barrow Street Theatre (27 Barrow Street at 7th Avenue). Performances continue through November 20th only. Hailed by The New York Times as a "Critic's Pick:" "You don't have to squint too hard to discern unsettling contemporary relevance in the Red Bull Theater's gripping new production of Shakespeare's Coriolanus... With the cast members wearing contemporary clothes - conservative suits or slouchy casual wear, depending on their class - the time, clearly, is now; the place, America. This is hardly an unusual approach for Shakespearean productions in any season, but Coriolanus, a late tragedy, exposes the dangerous rifts in the newly republican, deeply divided and highly stratified Roman society that ultimately led it to the brink of violent collapse. With this most disturbing presidential campaign drawing to a close, and Americans by the millions tearing their hair out, setting this particular play in a simulated United States of today carries greater weight." - Charles Isherwood, New York Times. The New Yorker declared this "a vital and even invigorating staging of an infrequently mounted play. Dion Johnstone, as Coriolanus, can evoke all the anxiety and exhilaration of a full battlefield with the emotions that play across his face, and Patrick Page, whose Menenius is conceived as a folksy Southern establishment politician, is an alchemist with the language, rendering his every line in rhythms that feel uncannily contemporary and American."

The Government Inspector, directed by Jesse Berger will open this Spring at a theater to be announced. All politics are local. Gogol's deeply silly satire of small-town corruption offers a riotous portrait of rampaging self-delusion. When the crooked leadership of a provincial village discovers that an undercover inspector is coming to root out their commonplace corruption, the town weaves a web of bribery, lies, and utter madness. This New York Premiere of acclaimed playwright Jeffrey Hatcher's (Stage Beauty) adaptation offers a hilarious reminder of the timelessness of bureaucracy and buffoonery. Cast and design team, as well as performance schedule, will be announced shortly. Member tickets are available now. Single tickets will go on sale in March.

Red Bull Theater is the not-profit Off-Broadway theater company specializing in plays of heightened language. With the Jacobean plays of Shakespeare and his contemporaries as its cornerstone, Red Bull Theater embraces the imagination of theatergoers through intimate, imaginative productions of great classic stories from all eras and cultures.

Red Bull Theater has previously staged productions of Pericles, The Revenger's Tragedy, Edward the Second, Women Beware Women, The Duchess of Malfi, The Witch of Edmonton, The Maids, The Dance of Death, Loot, The Mystery of Irma Vep, Volpone, 'Tis Pity She's A Whore, as well as last season's hit productions of Middleton and Rowley's The Changeling and Sheridan's The School For Scandal. The company's work has been hailed as "the most exciting classical theater in New York" (Time Out New York), "Dynamite!" (The New York Times), "Triumphant" (Associated Press), and "Proof that classical theater can still be surprising after hundreds of years" (Variety).

Red Bull Theater's work has been recognized with multiple Drama Desk, Drama League, Lucille Lortel, Callaway and OBIE Award nominations and awards, including the Off-Broadway Alliance Award for Best Revival in the 2015-'16 season (School for Scandal). The company has staged nearly 150 Revelation Readings, named by the Village Voice "Best Play Reading Series," also developing new plays of heightened language and classical adaptations through workshops and offering educational programs for students of all ages. Post-play Bull Session discussions with scholars following select Sunday matinees and Readings are free and open to the public.

Red Bull Theater offers Master Classes throughout the year. Taught by top working professionals including Kathleen Chalfant, John Douglas Thompson, Olympia Dukakis, Heidi Griffiths, and Patrick Page, Red Bull Theater's intensives and workshops cover a variety of disciplines, including auditioning, text, voice, movement, clowning, stage combat, and acting Shakespeare. Classes are open to adults at all levels of training or experience. They range from one to four days with limited class sizes to allow one-on-one attention. You can enroll in any combination of classes, or take the whole series for a year-long training experience.

For tickets and more information, visit www.redbulltheater.com or call (212) 352-3101.

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