Camelot is Crumbling

an Arthurian nightmare

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

from "Camelot is Crumbling"

Audience Praise for Camelot is Crumbling

"Best acting/actor of entire 2011 Fringe"

"...the King of Maximum Verbosity"

- Five-star audience reviews from the Minnesota Fringe site

National Praise for Camelot is Crumbling

"low does an awesome job of flipping from one character to the other, with short segues of transformation being hidden by the voiceovers of Charlie Bethel as Sir Gawain, speaking of those last days of that one brief shining moment that was known as Camelot."

- Angie Sutton, Stage Savvy (Kansas City, MO)

"Low adopts a consistent style and vocal inflection for each character, and he has the kind of voice one could listen to almost indefinitely."

- Jay Gabler, Indianapolis Star (Indianapolis, IN)

"Sir Lancelot beyond Thunderdome? Camelot of the Apes? This dark and passionate one-man show on the fall of the medieval utopia might have 6th-century Britons rolling in their graves, but it makes for thought-provoking theater in the hands of writer-performer phillip andrew bennett low."

- Daniel Gerzina, Time Out Chicago (Chicago, IL)

Local 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.

Script Information

(Note: these are script details for those interested in producing the full-length ensemble version of the script, and do not apply to the 55-minute solo production.)

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: 90 minutes

Cast: 3 male,1 female, 1 lutist, plus 4 in voice-over, 9 total
Setting: a hospital room and a wasted land
Time: near-future United States, heavily anachronistic.

Produced? Yes, many times.
Family-friendly? No: contains profanity and violence.

Other

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