Arthurian show on tour

[Penner Theologius Pott]

Hey there -- I hope this doesn't qualify as spam: my name's phillip
low, and I'm a Minneapolis-based playwright/storyteller who's been
touring adaptations of Arthurian romances for the past eight years.
I'm touring my most recent one, "Camelot is Crumbling", to a couple
states in the American Midwest, and boy howdy I'd love to see some
Arthur geeks there. It's the final days of Camelot, retold from the
point of view of Lancelot and Mordred (with some of Gawain in voice-
over). Pretty heavily Malory-based, although there's a little Chretien
and Geoffrey in there as well. Here's the website, if anyone's
interested:

http://www.maximumverbosityonline.org/son.php

...love to see some of you there!

[Bert Olton]

Post by Penner Theologius Pott
Hey there -- I hope this doesn't qualify as spam: my name's phillip
low, and I'm a Minneapolis-based playwright/storyteller who's been
touring adaptations of Arthurian romances for the past eight years.
I'm touring my most recent one, "Camelot is Crumbling", to a couple
states in the American Midwest, and boy howdy I'd love to see some
Arthur geeks there. It's the final days of Camelot, retold from the
point of view of Lancelot and Mordred (with some of Gawain in voice-
over). Pretty heavily Malory-based, although there's a little Chretien
and Geoffrey in there as well. Here's the website, if anyone's
http://www.maximumverbosityonline.org/son.php
...love to see some of you there!

Hello Phillip,

Nope, not spam at all. If anything, according to ancient Usenet
Netiquette, the agonizingly formal approach would be to begin your
subject line with "AD:..." But an agonizingly formal approach isn't
necessary, especially in a Newsgroup that is so agonizingly quiet! In
essence, your post is welcome!

Your methods, ideas and production look like a lot of fun. I can't make
it to any shows in the Mid West but if you ever get to western NY, I'll
be there...wait a minute, what's this Arthur "geeks" thing??? <grin>

Here's hoping you continue to post here, and not just with Ads!

Break a leg!

Best regards,
Bert

[Penner Theologius Pott]

Thanks for the kind words! I was actually a regular, er, lurker on the
group many years back, and still occasionally check it out. Currently
in a Westport coffee house in Kansas City. I'd *love* to get out to
New York -- I've got family and a few colleagues out there -- but it's
a notoriously difficult place to tour to: most of their local
Festivals are both exorbitantly expensive and heavily juried.

In any case, opening tomorrow night -- fingers crossed!

Thanks,
-pabl

(...also, as nearly as I can tell, "geek" has been reclaimed as a
desirable title, and I'm running with that for as long as I live in a
society that collectively regards it as such. <smirk>)

Post by Bert Olton

Post by Penner Theologius Pott
Hey there -- I hope this doesn't qualify as spam: my name's phillip
low, and I'm a Minneapolis-based playwright/storyteller who's been
touring adaptations of Arthurian romances for the past eight years.
I'm touring my most recent one, "Camelot is Crumbling", to a couple
states in the American Midwest, and boy howdy I'd love to see some
Arthur geeks there. It's the final days of Camelot, retold from the
point of view of Lancelot and Mordred (with some of Gawain in voice-
over). Pretty heavily Malory-based, although there's a little Chretien
and Geoffrey in there as well. Here's the website, if anyone's
http://www.maximumverbosityonline.org/son.php
...love to see some of you there!

Hello Phillip,
Nope, not spam at all.  If anything, according to ancient Usenet
Netiquette, the agonizingly formal approach would be to begin your
subject line with "AD:..."  But an agonizingly formal approach isn't
necessary, especially in a Newsgroup that is so agonizingly quiet!  In
essence, your post is welcome!
Your methods, ideas and production look like a lot of fun.  I can't make
it to any shows in the Mid West but if you ever get to western NY, I'll
be there...wait a minute, what's this Arthur "geeks" thing??? <grin>
Here's hoping you continue to post here, and not just with Ads!
Break a leg!
Best regards,
Bert
--
Si vis pacem, para bellum.  To those who have served or are serving the
cause of freedom in peace or in war at home or abroad, thank you. “Let's
roll!”, Todd Beamer, United Airlines Flight 93, September 11, 2001.
<http://www.canaltownanvil.org>

[Bert Olton]

Post by Penner Theologius Pott
Thanks for the kind words! I was actually a regular, er, lurker on the
group many years back, and still occasionally check it out. Currently
in a Westport coffee house in Kansas City. I'd *love* to get out to
New York -- I've got family and a few colleagues out there -- but it's
a notoriously difficult place to tour to: most of their local
Festivals are both exorbitantly expensive and heavily juried.
In any case, opening tomorrow night -- fingers crossed!
Thanks,
-pabl
(...also, as nearly as I can tell, "geek" has been reclaimed as a
desirable title, and I'm running with that for as long as I live in a
society that collectively regards it as such.<smirk>)

O.K., guess I'll have to accept the title.

I hadn't gone back through the groups' archives, but I thought I
recognized the name. Good to see you back!

So, how'd the show go???

Bert

[Penner Theologius Pott]

Post by Bert Olton
So, how'd the show go???

Fairly well, actually -- there have been people in the audience, which
in my experience is a good sign. First review is up online at

http://angiefsutton.wordpress.com/2011/07/25/review-camelot-is-crumbling/

-pabl

[Bert Olton]

Post by Penner Theologius Pott
Fairly well, actually -- there have been people in the audience, which
in my experience is a good sign. First review is up online at
http://angiefsutton.wordpress.com/2011/07/25/review-camelot-is-crumbling/
-pabl

Excellent - always good to have an audience! Though, it looks as if it
might have been better not to have had Ms. Sutton out there. She seems
to lack a bit in the education department; "...it wasn't until afterward
that I realized were all war songs...a Chaucer-like drawing on the
front...a Latin quote on the inner cover..." and etc.

Don't take it to heart, Phillip. A corollary to an old saw is "If you
can, do. If you can't, review."

Bert

[Penner Theologius Pott]

Excellent - always good to have an audience!  Though, it looks as if it
might have been better not to have had Ms. Sutton out there.  She seems
to lack a bit in the education department; "...it wasn't until afterward
that I realized were all war songs...a Chaucer-like drawing on the
front...a Latin quote on the inner cover..." and etc.
Don't take it to heart, Phillip.  A corollary to an old saw is "If you
can, do.  If you can't, review."

Oh, not at all -- I found her review quite fair (although I'll confess
I had to dig a bit to find her main points, which were that she
enjoyed the acting but not the poetic interludes). I've said for years
(only half-jokingly) that King Arthur is box-office poison, since I've
usually had a hard time selling tickets to these shows (and Fringe
Festival audiences are notorious for a proud streak of anti-
intellectualism). I've actually been getting not-embarrassing numbers
this time around, though, and an audience that seems to be responding
positively.

Contrariwise, another review at
http://fringe.kcstage.com/?a=Reviews&op=View&md=ListReview&reviewid=1374&sid=1311701620,
for those who are interested.

-pabl

[Penner Theologius Pott]

For anyone who might be interested (surely this isn't just you and I,
Bert?) -- just concluded the Minneapolis leg of my tour, and my
hometown press has been kind to me:

"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
http://www.tcdailyplanet.net/arts/camelot-is-crumbling-minnesota-fringe-festival-review

"...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
http://minnesotaplaylist.com/magazine/column_post/fringe-lab-experimental-performance-08112011-354am

"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
http://www.tcdailyplanet.net/blog/matthew-everett/minnesota-fringe-festival-review-camelot-crumbling-maximum-verbosity-5-stars

"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
http://fringefamous.com/post/8603886692/camelot-is-crumbling

Off to Indianapolis!