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“There’s a lion that isn’t a lion. A wall that talks and the moon comes down with a dog and everybody’s killing themselves but there’s no blood, and I’m in a play, but I don’t know the words. I’M NAKED AND I DON’T KNOW THE WORDS!!!”  Tim Crouch, I, Peaseblossom.

‘Crouch is a performer at the top of his game…’ The Guardian

‘This is a play about LOVE. Peaseblossom is all about LOVE.’ Tim Crouch

If you’ve never been to the theatre before, or are lover of theatre then I, Peaseblossom, presented by the British Council in Auckland in a few weeks, is the perfect opportunity.

Shakespeare’s least known fairy, I Peaseblossom, comes to life this December at the University of Auckland’s Musgrove Studio.  This is Shakespeare as never seen before.

Award winning UK actor and playwright Tim Crouch, in partnership with the British Council, will showcase his irreverent and modern take on Shakespeare through the eyes of this cheeky fairy.

The play was written for young audiences but, as with most of Tim Crouch’s pieces for young people, it has been hijacked by adults over the years.  At its heart is the offer of a game - and the game works equally well with adults and young people.  Tim alters the performance, according to who’s in the room with him.

“In one way, it’s an introduction to how theatre works - with a performer guiding and provoking and playing with you.  It’s like a narrated dream; a running commentary on Shakespeare and the folly of love.  It’s also told from the perspective of the outsider, the little person, the marginalised, the uncomprehending,” says Tim.

It’s the second in a series of plays he wrote for Brighton Festival.  Each play takes a minor character from Shakespeare and places them centre stage. The first was Caliban from The Tempest. After Peaseblossom came Banquo, Malvolio and Cinna the poet (from Julius Caesar).

In A Midsummer Night’s Dream, Peaseblossom has two credited lines - one of which is just the word ‘Ready’.  As a character he felt ripe for his moment in the sun.

“I was excited to approach A Midsummer Night’s Dream.  It’s an extraordinary play but it’s not without complication. The image of love and marriage it portrays is questionable - and Peaseblossom questions it!” says Tim.

“In my play, he has a series of increasingly frantic dreams in which his subconscious goes to work on all that he’s experienced in the world of Shakespeare’s play.  I mix this with some classic Jungian dream-symbolism, some very direct story-telling and a philosophical treatise on the nature of theatre.”

The play’s unique element comes from Tim’s interaction with the audience – which he describes as “a mixture of improvised stand-up and tightly scripted text” or even “meta-theatre.”

The theme of both plays – A Midsummer Night’s Dream, and I Peaseblossom is love – so it’s little wonder that Tim refers to “love” as being generated through the theatrical experience.

“This sounds like a cutesy exaggeration, but the room gets full of the stuff.  Love - and laughter. The show is quite robustly rude and surreal.  It is not a sentimental indulgence, but Peaseblossom has this effect on everyone except the Grinchiest loser,” says Tim.

This could be because the play is structured in such a way that Peaseblossom is never in control.  He opens out to the audience and the audience invariably responds.  His heart is enormous and his innocence and misunderstanding are immense. He fails and falls and flounces; he is endlessly pitiable and endlessly ridiculous.  The audience help him, encourage him, terrify him, and  love him.

Tim says the fairy character is the one he has most enjoyed performing throughout his career, due to the ‘chaos and beauty” of playing someone so utterly open, yet so childishly naive.

This will be Tim’s first visit to NZ – prompted by five years of relentless invitations from British Council Country Director Ingrid Leary, who first saw the play in Singapore and insisted it come down under.

“We have a big world atlas on our kitchen wall - and there sits New Zealand, on the edge of the world - like Peaseblossom on the edge of Shakespeare,” says Tim.

“I trace my finger over the journey my plane will take and imagine the distance and the changes that will take place as I travel.  I’m excited about meeting people who live so far away from me - and yet speak my language. All my work is as porous as I can possibly make it - and I’m looking forward to that porosity working both ways - the audience seeping into me and me seeping into them.”

I Peaseblossom runs from December 8 – 12 at the Musgrove Studio - Maidment Theatre, and is suitable for all ages.

Tim Crouch is part of an unprecedented global programme, #ShakespeareLives - a series of events by the British Council which celebrates the life and death of the world’s most famous bard.

For bookings, head over to the Maidment Theatre page for more details.