Tim Crouch performs MY ARM

Photo: Steve Monosson

Franklin Stage favorite Tim Crouch continues the company's 12th Season of Admission Free theatre with his two original works, MY ARM and I, PEASEBLOSSOM (for family audiences, aged 6+).

MY ARM opens July 24 and plays through August 3, running Thursday through Saturday at 8pm, with Sunday matinees at 5pm.

I, PEASEBLOSSOM plays at 11AM on Saturdays and Sundays only: July 26, 27, and August 2,3.

Admission to MY ARM and I, PEASEBLOSSOM is free, but reservations are recommended.

MY ARM, first presented as a reading at Franklin Stage in 2002, heralded the beginning of Tim Crouch's
remarkable rise to prominence as one of Britain's best-known theatre artists. Since its premiere, MY ARM has played at the Edinburgh Festival, in London, and around the world in Canada, Hong Kong, Norway, Russia, and more. Along with Crouch's follow-up play "an oak tree" (performed at Franklin Stage in 2006) and his recent ENGLAND, MY ARM has garnered the writer-performer a slew of awards, including an Edinburgh Fringe First and Total Theatre Award, an Obie Award (New York), a Best Male Actor Award (Brighton Festival) and the coveted Prix Italia for the radio adaptation of MY ARM. The play is a fascinating exploration of youth, family, and modern art, and it features - uniquely - objects that belong to audience members as part of the narrative, ensuring that no two performances are ever the same.

I, PEASEBLOSSOM, meanwhile, forms part of a collection of plays for young audiences that the prodigious Crouch has based on some of William Shakespeare's supporting characters. Peaseblossom (as patrons of last summer's A MIDSUMMER NIGHT'S DREAM may remember) is one of the fairies that attend Queen Titania in her forest. Crouch's delicious meditation explores the private life of the fairy with wit, pathos and panache. After the success of FSC's PINOCCHIO in 2007, FSC is thrilled to continue to provide entertainment for children.

FSC audiences will also recall Crouch's splendid performances with the company over the years, including Petruchio in THE TAMING OF THE SHREW, Vanya in UNCLE VANYA, Prospero in THE TEMPEST, and Malvolio in TWELFTH NIGHT.

This is the Franklin Stage Company's 12th season of live theatre. Since 1997, FSC has presented inventive and vibrant renditions of classical plays and new works to a total audience in the tens of thousands. Actors with world-class reputations have appeared on the stage alongside the passionate and talented local artists who have helped to build the company. Thanks to the quality of its acting, direction, and production, the theatre has established a reputation that has spread throughout the region, and it is proud to contribute to the growth of the arts in the western Catskills. The FSC was founded on the principle that great theatre should be available to all, and remains Admission Free, with donations gratefully accepted at the door.

Call 607 829 3700 for
reservations or email reserve@franklinstagecompany.org

For more on FSC's season, including the Sundays at 8 series of readings, and the company's upcoming
production of Bertolt Brecht's masterpiece Galileo, visit the company's website www.franklinstagecompany.org