My arm
My arm by Tim Crouch is a piece of theatre about modern art, stubbornness and how the things we do when aged ten follow us the rest of our lives.
"At the age of ten, for want of anything more meaningful to do, I put my arm above my head and kept it there. Now, 30 years on, I'm so full of meaning it's killing me."
Information
(Objekt ID 7655)| Object type | Production |
| Audience | Adults |
| Language | English |
| Keywords | Comedy, Performance, Movie |
| Website | Det Åpne Teater |
Requirements to venue
| Blackout | No |
My arm by Tim Crouch is the story about an empty gesture. It’s a confession from a man who has lived 30 years on the courage from his lack of conviction. In the process he has become a famous medical phenomena and an icon in the art community in New York. His story is told in a combination of live performance, digital film and animation of trivial objects the audience delivered in prior to each performance.
Source: The Open Theatre (Det Åpne Teater), detapneteater.no, 25.10.2010, http://www.detapneteater.no/pub/daat/forestillinger/?aid=745&cid=17&sac=all&viewall=1#daat
| Name | Role |
|---|---|
| Tim Crouch | – Direction |
| Karl James | – Direction |
| Hettie Macdonald | – Direction |
| Chris Dorley-Brown | – Video/Film |
| Tim Crouch | – Actor |
| May 19, 2008 – Hallen, The Open Theatre (Det Åpne Teater) | Show |
"… utterly beguiling…Crouch uses the power of suggestion to create a gloriously improbable yet terribly believable piece about how the boy with his arm in the air transforms the world around him. A small gem." Sarah Slater (2003, 08.08). Evening Standard
"… colossally powerful…Crouch tells his bleak story without ever losing sight of the aching pained humanity behind the tale – the wonderful final image of this show is so straightforwardly moving that it left many members of the audience, including me, close to tears." Joyce McMillan (2003, 04.08). The Scotsman
"… Crouch is the most engaging of performers, and he is actually exploring on stage the nature of art and performance itself, taking risks in the process…At these moments, Crouch is armed and dangerous." Lyn Gardner (2003, 02.08). The Guardian
"… oddly compelling…curiously hypnotic. The use of home-movie footage is almost unbearably touching. Creeping up on your emotions, the show becomes an elegy for lost childhood, while deconstructing the ways we mythologise our past." Dominic Cavendish (2003, 12.08). Daily Telegraph
"My arm is quite simply wonderful…But the engine that makes it all work, the beating heart of the experiment, is the story-telling. Tim Crouch’s understated, dignified performance as the ‘arm man’, the boy who wanted to test himself, is impeccable. Give your life a shake. Go and see it now." 01.08.2003, edinburghguide.com
"Tim Crouch’s charming solo piece…a tender, warm and wryly skew-whiff meditation on what it means to be normal in an unforgiving world." (2003, 06.08). The Herald
"Tim Crouch understands narrative; he knows what words will pull us in and what silences will keep us there…Like all good narrators, he could teach the Edinburgh stand-ups a thing or two about timing …(and) absolutely crucial to the integrity of the thing, he never even hints at standing in judgement on his subject matter…I was deeply moved by the small life just gone by." Institute of Ideas Website, 08.2003, Culture Wars