Camelot is Crumbling

an Arthurian nightmare

imagine that your entire life
is about the worst thing
you ever did

from "Camelot is Crumbling"

Praise for Camelot is Crumbling

"Low's greatest achievement with this show, in which he alternates between the characters of Lancelot and Mordred, is the creation of a dank, mossy mood. By the end of the show, you may be surprised to put your hand on the theater wall and not feel cold stone and dead vines. Low's intense monologues, playing tricks with time and place, are thick with layers of meaning; this is a show that would reward multiple viewings."

- Jay Gabler, Twin Cities Daily Planet

"...it is low's slow-burn quality, his smoldering intensity, that supercharges his delivery style and imbues even the briefest pause or the smallest gesture with meaning...this is a fully realized production - beautifully written, beautifully performed. It offers everything one could ask for in a work of art - it ascends to the heights, descends to the depths, and enraptures the eye and ear, all in the space of an hour."

- Sarah Wash, Minnesota Playlist

"Because the acting is so good, the words and the stories resolve themselves. What might in other hands be convoluted and confusing, in Camelot is Crumbling: An Arthurian Nightmare becomes clear and easy to follow. A story and themes that could seem distant from our own time, here find surprising resonance for the world we leave and return to when we cross the theater threshold."

- Matthew Everett, Twin Cities Daily Planet

"This show is not for everyone - in fact, I don’t know who it’s for, really, and I don’t know if low knows who he’s writing for, except himself. But he’s not writing for himself in a selfish way, he’s writing for himself, and then sharing it with us in hopes that we can help him along the path. Because we’re on the path, too, whatever the path is. The path for truth? For philosophical enlightenment? For mutual understanding? Any of those. All of those."

- SWF, FringeFamous

About the Show

The murderous son of King Arthur recounts his history with the court to his dying father, while Arthur's greatest knight traverses a post-war landscape to find his queen. Both reflect on how their actions brought about the death of the dream in this brooding one-man tale of light and darkness.

Featuring the voice of Charlie Bethel as Sir Gawain!

Inspired by Sir Thomas Malory's Le Morte d'Arthur -- a morbid and fantastic Middle English epic depicting the downfall of Camelot -- this is the story of the shadow that falls between vision and achievement; of the futility of political power; of a world of short-sighted ambition and crumbling ideals. A world, in other words, entirely unlike our own.

WARNING: Contains profanity and violence.

Kansas City Fringe Festival

Saturday, July 23rd at 9:30pm
Sunday, July 24th at 3:30pm
Tuesday, July 26th at 6:30pm
Wednesday, July 27th at 8pm
Saturday, July 30th at 3:30pm

The Fishtank Performance Studio
1715 Wyandotte Street
Kansas City, MO 64108

Tickets are $10.00 (plus one-time purchase of $5.00 Fringe button for Festival entry), and can be purchased online at the KC Fringe website.

Minnesota Fringe Festival

Saturday, August 6th at 8:30pm
Sunday, August 7th at 4pm
Tuesday, August 9th at 5:30pm
Friday, August 12th at 8:30pm
Saturday, August 13th at 1pm

The Bryant-Lake Bowl
810 West Lake Street
Minneapolis, MN 55408

Tickets are $12.00 ($10.00 for students, seniors, and MPR members, $14.00 if tickets are reserved in advanced, plus one-time purchase of $4.00 Fringe button for Festival entry), and can be purchased online at the Minnesota Fringe site.

Indianapolis Fringe Festival

Friday, August 19th at 6pm
Sunday, August 21st at 7:30pm
Tuesday, August 23rd at 9pm
Thursday, August 25th at 7:30pm
Saturday, August 27th at 9pm
Sunday, August 28th at 3pm

Theatre on the Square, Stage II
627 Massachusetts Avenue
Indianapolis, IN 46204

Tickets are $10.00 ($7.00 for students, plus one-time purchase of $5.00 Fringe button, CASH ONLY at the door), and can be purchased at (317)721-9458.

Chicago Fringe Festival

Thursday, September 1st at 8:30pm
Saturday, September 3rd at 5:30pm
Monday, September 5th at 7pm
Saturday, September 10th at 2:30pm
Sunday, September 11th at 4pm

Chicago Arts District, Doppler Stage
1915 S Halsted St
Chicago, Illinois

Tickets are $10.00.

Script Information

a tragic monologue for many voices in prose and verse
by phillip andrew bennett low
inspired by material by Sir Thomas Malory
estimated running time: 55 minutes

Cast: 1-2 male, plus one in voice-over
Setting: a hospital room and a wasted land
Time: near-future United States, heavily anachronistic.

Produced? Yes, at the People's Center Theater.
Family-friendly? No: contains profanity and violence.