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

"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

WHAT'S THIS ABOUT?

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.



MAXIMUM VERBOSITY is a theatrical production company that specializes in whimsically wordplay-heavy entertainment, featuring original fantasy and speculative fiction created for the stage, as well as wildly anachronistic re-interpretations of classical myth. For more info, check out the website at maximumverbosityonline.org.

phillip low
Role: Lancelot/Mordred

phillip low is a playwright and poet, storyteller and mime, theatre critic and libertarian activist. He has won acclaim at such varied venues as the Minnesota Renaissance Festival, Spirit in the House, FoolFest, and the DC, Indianapolis, Iowa, and Kansas City Fringe Festivals -- even as far as Melbourne, Australia. At the 2007 Minnesota Fringe, his one-man show Descendant of Dragons was the bestselling show in its venue and awarded a coveted Fringe Encore slot, while in 2009 The Rise of General Arthur was nominated for Best Spoken Word Performance by FringeFamous. He is a co-founder of the Rockstar Storytellers and founder and producer of Maximum Verbosity.

He is also assisting with the writing and direction of Minnesota Middle Finger with Ben San Del, as well as performing in Macbeth: The Video Game Remix with Theatre Arlo.

Charlie Bethel
Role: Sir Gawain (voice-over)

Charlie Bethel is an actor/writer with four critically acclaimed solo shows to his credit. He has also worked as a stage manager, producer, electrician, milliner, director, and properties and set dressing artist. His solo performances have been presented all over the US: from The Clay Center for the Arts & Sciences (Charleston, WV), to Cincinnati Playhouse, and a couple of Fringe Festivals, to Joseph Campbell's Centenary Celebration at the Esalen Institute (Big Sur, CA--which was a total blast), to the Mythic Journeys Conference in Atlanta. Charlie's solo work delights audiences large and small, educated and not, well-heeled and plain spun. Charlie is a graduate of the North Carolina School of the Arts, and he comes from a long line of talkers. Recently he was featured on the History Channel's series, Clash of the Gods as a commentator on, you guessed it, Beowulf.

Elizabeth Byrd
Role: Artistic Associate

Elizabeth Byrd is a classically trained ensemble and solo singer who has performed in nationally recognized semi-professional and collegiate choirs. She is also trained in classical piano and has composed background or incidental music for a number of productions, as well as collaborating in the composition of a full operetta. Her theater background includes the roles of Jo March in Little Women and Kitty in Charley's Aunt as well as performances at the Minnesota Renaissance Festival. She is one of the oldest members of Maximum Verbosity and has been acting as editor and dramaturg since the company’s inception.

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Best acting/actor sof entire 2011 Fringe
by Suzanne Sharrock Follow this reviewer
Rating 5 kitties
Wow - nothing more to add- just blew me away. Hard to rate anything after this bit of virtuousity.

Phillip Low is Amazing!
by Laurie Swenson Follow this reviewer
Rating 5 kitties
As the previous reviewer said, Phillip Low is amazing. I've seen his work a number of times and I find him captivating in whatever he does. He really seems to get into the role/story, and it doesn't feel like a performance so much as a sense of being that we get to watch him take part in.

Mesmerizing
by Joyce Spirala Follow this reviewer
Rating 5 kitties
phillip low is AMAZING!
This show was fantastic on so many levels. The Story, the unique and compelling interpretation of Camelot is genius. phil's writing, his storytelling and performance are a tour de force that left me awestuck!
What more can I saw when he's the King of Maximum Verbosity.
See any of phillip bennett low's work if you can. It will knock your socks off!

Masterful performance
by Will Weisert Follow this reviewer
Rating 5 kitties
The contrast Low strikes between an 'Old English' Lancelot, albeit with modern technology, and a streetwise Mordred made this show a winner for me. Granted, there seems to be a moral question that is left unanswered but my sense is that Low wants us to solve that puzzle for ourselves.

Low always brings his A-game
by Florence Brammer Follow this reviewer
Rating 3 kitties
I admire Low in that he always brings a piece to the stage for which the text and the performance are invariably meticulously crafted. Not all local spoken word artists do that, unfortunately. That is probably the #1 reason I always go to a Low show in the Fringe. That said, however, I also often leave with a feeling of frustration, a sense that I didn't "get" it. I'm not saying that Low should directly engage with the audience (though that's certainly effective for some performers). I don't expect him or anyone to dumb-down text. And I'm more than willing to hold up my end of the deal by being attentive and eager. It just seems more laborious than it should.

phil is like a Guinness: fulfilling &...
by Heather Baldwin Follow this reviewer
Rating 5 kitties
...complex, but an acquired taste. There's something about the way he performs that just mesmerizes me. His words flow from his mouth and into my ears like brush strokes flowing from a master painter's arm, applying paint skillfully to a canvas. He truly becomes Lancelot and Mordred, drawing me in. Before I first saw this show last Dec, my knowledge of the Arthurian legend was limited to Monty Python & the Holy Grail. I got and enjoyed the show anyway. phil's take on this story explores the idea that the "hero", Lancelot, is deeply morally flawed, while the "villain", Mordred, is a sooth-sayer who sticks to his beliefs. My one criticism of the show is the inconsistency of the anachronisms. Despite that, it's a fantastic piece.

Tour de Force
by Mickey Foley Follow this reviewer
Rating 4 kitties
I was blown away by phillip andrew bennett low's writing and acting. It's a quietly powerful show, a meditation on evil and the quest for redemption. I'd love to see him expand it into a fuller exploration of Camelot's fall. He clearly has a lot to say as Mordred and Lancelot.

Morality d'Arthur
by Fringivitis Vulgaris Follow this reviewer
Rating 5 kitties
War is hell & p.a.b.l. takes us on a tour of the war-torn lands of Arthurian legend. There are no heroes, only the wounded of body and spirit. This one-man show is a gripping study of morality and motivations, framed in chivalry and exposing hypocrisy. This show is epic, tragic, and totally worth an hour of your life.

Complicated
by Elisa Korenne Follow this reviewer
Rating 3 kitties
Two stars for the material, four stars for the skill level of the performer. This show felt like a hodgepodge of theatrical devices, linked together as if randomly selected from a deck of theatrical device cards. The material was complicated, wordy, and difficult. There were some wonderful moments-- the apple, the wheelchair, the performer, the contrast between old England and modern military technology --but on the whole this piece left me flat. I felt jerked around by the back and forth between modern and old speak, and the hip-hop spoken word came out of nowhere. Lowe is clearly an excellent actor with great abilities, and I look forward to seeing him perform again with different material.

Excellent Performance
by Michael Merriam Follow this reviewer
Rating 5 kitties
phillip andrew bennett low gives an amazing performance in this production, moving easily from Lancelot to Mordred and back again. Each character he plays is solidly signaled by both costume changes and the actor's own physical demeanor as he slips between the two. The script moves slow and languid when needed, and clips along, dragging you breathless in its wake at other times. I highly recommend this show.

Throw me a bone....
by Paula Nancarrow Follow this reviewer
Rating 5 kitties
...Even the dogs under the table are allowed them, I’m told. If I could, I would give David Rust’s review five kitties. He says essentially everything I would have, everything I did say when I reviewed The Rise of General Arthur in 2009.(http://ordinarytime.livejournal.com/19262.html)

I love the power of phillip’s language. I still want him to invite the audience in more. I shouldn’t have to be a medievalist to get this, shouldn’t have to have studied the Arthurian cycle as completely as he has to understand his interpretation. Sometimes I think he just doesn’t care whether the audience gets it or not. The words of Franz Liebkind come to me: “You shut up! You are the audience! I am the author! I OUTRANK you!” Having said that, the piece is still a remarkable tour de force. I love the way phillip intensely engages with the characters of Lancelot and Mordred – though this time the soliloquies of each character had me thinking not so much about the differences between the two men but about how men and women view sin and redemption differently. “Imagine that your entire life is about the worst thing you ever did.” OK. I think I can probably say that I have imagined that. I have also imagined something better. Nightmares are, after all, only bad dreams.

Neither More Nor Less
by Molly Miller Follow this reviewer
Rating 5 kitties
Every time I see this show (I've seen it thrice now) I walk away with a different perspective and lots of thoughts on which to ponder. Lancelot and Mordred are both presented in a very captivating way, drawing the audience into the characters in a subtle, but powerful weaving of character confession, dark humor, and non-verbal emotional cues.

It is a dense script and probably better suited for those familiar with the Arthurian legends, but wonderfully written, performed, and engaging.

Needs time and distillation
by Peter Erickson Follow this reviewer
Rating 3 kitties
A twisted sequel to the Camelot story, told Phillip Low in an earnest, passionate, and very long portrayal. It was unclear to me what it all meant. Is King Arthur Christ? Like Low's Lancelot, it seemed this story was trying to force a premature purity of answer, that maybe only the patient and practiced years can yield.

Brilliant
by Tristan Miller Follow this reviewer
Rating 5 kitties
“Camelot is Crumbling.” Now I’ve seen this show three times, it’s good, like really good. Written and produced by Phil Low it is a series of monologues told by Lancelot, the moral upright, (more or less) knight of the table round and Mordred, the bastard son of Arthur. Phillip does a brilliant job of switching between the two and using pre-recorded sound clip of stories of Arthur or stories that fit what is being said to enhance the monologues. Lancelot the essentially good knight stuggles to find peace with himself and what he has done, whereas Mordred is a peace with who he is and what he has done and is a monster for it. Both men a wrong about what the believe, but both men are right for what the believe. It’s not so much a story of Arthur and his Knights but of morals and philosophy. So, anyone interested in that and it effects on people should see the show. Philosophy, religion, and myth always seem to blend nicely and this is proof of that. Five out of five, good sir.

Hypnotizing
by Jacqueline Wegscheid Follow this reviewer
Rating 5 kitties
This was amazing, I sat spellbound the entire hour. Anyone who saw The Rise of General Arthur two years ago will have a good idea of the kind of show to expect, but I thought Camelot went a step beyond that even. I think I will have to see it again. Possibly tomorrow.

low is HIGH
by Chris Friedlieb Follow this reviewer
Rating 5 kitties
At a high point, I should say... continuing his exploration of Arthur's story... Amazing writing, multi-levels, acted impeccably. We will be mulling this for days...

Lancelot and Mordred
by David Rust Follow this reviewer
Rating 2 kitties
In seeing "Camelot is Crumbling" I worried that I was either not educated enough, the right audience, or a combination of both. I simply couldn't follow it. It isn't as if the language was not understandable; I just didn't see how the scenes/vignettes worked with each other to produce a whole. Sure, I get the whole idea of contrasting Lancelot with Mordred in the Arthurian stories but I wasn't sure about what it all meant or was supposed to mean.

This one-man show is a monologue show. In it, we see Lancelot -with the trappings of the 20th century- recording his observations of the world following the death of Arthur and the involvement of both himself and Mordred in the occurances. These vignettes alternate with Mordred coming to either visit a sick and dying Arthur in a wheelchair or sitting next to an empty wheelchair and having a conversation with the memory of Arthur ... I'm not sure which.

I want to be clear: the execution of this performance (with the exception of one costume change mistake in which Lancelot continued to wear Mordred's "Jesus Loves Me" T-shirt) was excellent. Phillip Low delivers his monologues with amazing perfection. I could not always follow what was going on and, for that, I must blame my lack of knowledge of the subject matter. Still, I can appreciate the excellent, conversational tone struck with the rich verbiage. This may (and probably will be) rated higher by folk who know more about the Arthurian stories than I do.