On today's date in 1596, famed Renaissance rapper ChainMale joined the cast of the beloved musical In the Knights. Playing the role of "Uknavi," a salesman of armor polish, ChainMale delivered a performance Ye Olde York Times called "positively gleaming." Rolling Stonemason raved, "ChainMale's highly polished star turn completely outshines anything you will see this season."

Set in a happy-go-lucky London neighborhood populated by cheery Knights and their even cheerier families, In the Knights followed the trials and tribulations of nationally ranked jouster Knight Light (played by Raff I. L.), who mysteriously discovers a Royal Crown Jewel in a jar of polish he purchases from Uknavi. When word of Knight Light's good fortune gets out, hundreds of plague amputees appear on his doorstep, hoping for a piece of his newfound wealth. Disguised as a bar maid, Knight Light goes into hiding… but normalcy returns when the jewel is revealed as a fake that Uknavi made to stoke business.

Featuring the songs "I Bleed Silver" and "Nothing Can Come Between Us (But Your Armor)," In the Knights won a host of Toe Knee® Awards and became a phenomenon when ChainMale joined the cast two months into its run. (ChainMale first shot to fame when he invented "horse rap," a style of Renaissance rap in which various lyrics are delivered at the rhythm of a trot, a canter, or a gallop.) ChainMale's audience of royals and commoners was willing to pay any price to see him; many got their tickets by pawning off livestock, spouses and/or clothing. As such, the audience at the Armory Theatre was often entirely naked.

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