EgoPo welcomes back the award-winning Abrahamse & Meyer Productions from Capetown, South Africa with the Philly premiere of their celebrated adaption of Tennessee Williams’ novella, The Knightly Quest. This immersive event at the Cockatoo’s upstairs lounge, located in the heart of the Gayborhood, will kick off EgoPo’s Queer Revolutions season devoted to America’s most pivotal queer plays.
The Knightly Quest will run from October 16th-October 27th at Cockatoo Bar at 208 S 13th St, Philadelphia, PA 19107. Tickets are available for purchase at https://secure.egopo.org/events.
Directed by Fred Abrahamse and performed by Marcel Meyer, this production brings to life one of Tennessee Williams’ forgotten novellas, described by Williams’ himself as “…equal [to] the best of my prose writing”. The Knightly Quest is a short novella begun by Williams in 1949 but mainly written in 1965, then published in 1966. The text plays with recognizable genres, morphing from homecoming story into vampire tale, then to thriller. In its last page and a half, The Knightly Quest lifts without warning from spy caper to science-fiction.
Audience members are encouraged to arrive early, partake in the menu curated for this production by the ownership of Cockatoo and then head upstairs into the lounge where they will don their homemade tinfoil hats and join Marcel Meyer aboard a spaceship where this compelling story will unfold with the help of a variety of barbie dolls.
The Knightly Quest received standing ovations for its world-premiere staging as part of the 18″ annual Provincetown Tennessee Williams Theatre Festival. It went on for multiple runs in Ft. Lauderdale, Florida and then made its European debut at the International Dublin Gay Theatre Festival where it won the Oscar Wilde Award for New Writing and earned a nomination for Best Performance in a Male Identifying Role.
Abrahamse and Meyer Productions have been seen frequently in Philadelphia over the last several years as long-time collaborators with EgoPo. Their award-winning production of O’Neill’s Desire Under the Elms was presented at Drexel’s Mandell Theater in 2018, and in 2023 they presented the Philly premiere of their hit one-act Contested Bodies at the Powel House followed by the joint production with EgoPo of Lorraine Hansberry’s Les Blancs at Christ Church.
Production History
- World Premiere: September 2023, Provincetown Tennessee Williams Theatre Festival.
- November 2023: Fundraiser Event for the Provincetown Tennessee Williams Theatre Festival in Ft Lauderdale, Florida.
- May 2024: European Debut: International Dublin Gay Theatre Festival (wins the Oscar Wilde Award for New Writing; nominated for the Micheal Mac Liammoir Award for Best Performance in a Male Identifying Role)
- October 2024: Philadelphia premiere, as part of EgoPo Classic Theatre’s Queer Revolutions Season.
About Abrahamse & Meyer Productions
Abrahamse & Meyer Productions is an internationally acclaimed classical theatre company, founded in 2006 by Fred Abrahamse & Marcel Meyer. Based in Cape Town, South Africa, the company regularly performs on stages across Europe, The United States of America, and South Africa. The company is known for its innovative re-inventions of classic texts.This year marks the company’s 15th anniversary. Abrahamse & Meyer Productions has a repertory of 50 plays and musicals that have been staged in 90 separate seasons, on three continents, creating 731 job opportunities for local artists, and winning 10 of the 72 national and international theatre awards the company has been nominated for.
About Cockatoo
Located in the heart of the gayborhood, Cockatoo Bar is a vibrant and inclusive bar & restaurant. Cockatoo’s main floor features a full bar and kitchen, and an upstairs lounge with two more bars that can host private events, watch parties, drag shows, pottery classes and more. Cockatoo is committed to creating a safe place for all guests and diversifying the events and culture of the area.
About EgoPo’s 2024-25 Queer Revolutions
EgoPo’s 2024-2025 season celebrates some of the century’s most influential Queer plays and theater artists that have had a lasting impact on our culture. EgoPo’s first mainstage production is a new telling of The Drag by Mae West, directed by Rebecca Wright, devised and developed with AZ Espinoza and Thomas Choinacky. EgoPo’s next mainstage production will be Turds in Hell by the Theater of the Ridiculous’ Charles Ludlam and Bill Vehr, directed by Dane Eissler and starring an iconic Philadelphia cast. The Drag will open on January 31, 2025 with Turds in Hell opening on April 11, 2025.
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