The music that welcomes us in is a mix of standard mediaeval fare and the more
All in all, a fun romp by way of an urban legend
contemporary Angel, by PinkPantheress which set the tone of what we’re about to
experience in Knight, Knight at the Underbelly. Yes, it is a story about a knight pulling a sword from a stone and becoming king, only this knight happens to be in love with his horse!
Optimists hoping for a chance at a no-show ticket are turned away from the Wee Coo as it is
once again a full house, a repeat occurrence for one of the festival’s most-talked about
shows. Depending on where you’re sitting, it is a little difficult to see the stage but that’s only
an issue when the Knight - played by Madeleine Rowe - is crouching or interacting with the
front row.
Within the first ten minutes, there is some light bestiality as the Knight begins to make out
with his noble steed Hermes, which fortunately for us, is just a hobby-horse. When the
Knight does “what needs to be done” after Hermes threatens to tell everyone about their
affair, people genuinely gasp. It is a credit to Rowe’s performance that they manage to get us
rooting for a human-horse relationship.
Rowe is a verbal clown and plays the knight as a blustering man-child - or what their
contemporaries would refer to as a ‘fuckboy’ - both in speech and mannerisms. In true clown
form, sometimes Rowe would say or do things that were a surprise even to themselves, but
if it got a good reaction, they would draw out the bit even longer.
There are other modern nods on the classic tale (which perhaps explains why Rowe keeps
their septum piercing in), such as the Knight badly playing Celine Dion’s My Heart Will Go
On on the recorder like the popular meme and getting a singalong started of Chasing Cars
by Snow Patrol. All in all, a fun romp by way of an urban legend.
