From Betty to a Bathtub

Between Friday and Oct. 14, Cosham is handling two roles in "Arsenic and Old Lace" at Center Stage in Baltimore. And from Oct. 3 to Nov. 3, his voice will intone the narrative of "The Trial" in Catalyst Theater Company's new stage adaptation (by Christopher Gallu) of Franz Kafka's unfinished 1914 novel. Cosham already has recorded the narration and now is in rehearsals at Center Stage.

After "Arsenic and Old Lace" closes, says Cosham, he's eager to go to see "The Trial" and hear how his recording works -- "and then going backstage to congratulate myself on how good I was."

The British-born actor (from Eastbourne, a resort town on the Sussex coast) has assayed innumerable character parts with Shakespeare Theatre Company and the Folger and spent more than a decade as a member of Arena Stage's resident acting company in the 1980s and '90s. Yet he gets a kick out of appearing with little Catalyst, an experimental group that charges $10 per ticket. It performs at Capitol Hill Arts Workshop, 545 Seventh St. SE; http://www.catalysttheater.org.

They're "a great little group," says Cosham, who began acting here in the 1960s with the long-defunct Washington Theatre Club under the leadership of the late critic, director and educator Davey Marlin-Jones. Catalyst "reminds me of Washington Theatre Club," Cosham says, "doing really good stuff on absolutely no money."

He first worked with the company in its version of George Orwell's "1984." Always the epitome of suavity and urbanity on the stage, Cosham seems readily able to plumb those qualities for good or evil, comedy or tragedy. He was a plenty evil bureaucrat in "1984."

At 71, Cosham enjoys a busy non-retirement. "I was doing five shows a year for 25 years. So now I limit myself to three plays a year and the recorded books, which I do at home." He estimates he's narrated 100 books, among them Kafka's "The Trial" and "The Castle."

Born with a heart defect, Cosham has benefited greatly from new medical technology, including artificial valves and an implanted defibrillator. That's one of the reasons, in addition to family (he and his wife, singer-actress Beverly Cosham, have four grandchildren), he chose to stay in Washington -- his doctors are here.

"I've been living on borrowed time since 1970 and that's not bad," Cosham observes. "I keep keeping up just ahead of the technology. They find these new things to extend me. My grandchildren think I'm battery-operated."

Follow Spots

? Saturday's free Arts on Foot festival, 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. in the downtown Penn Quarter neighborhood, will include performances and workshops at the Flashpoint arts incubator, reprises of Capital Fringe performances, cabaret productions and backstage tours of the Warner Theatre and Woolly Mammoth Theatre Company. Programs are available the day of the event at Eighth and F streets NW. Visit http://www.artsonfoot.org.

? Coinciding with Arts on Foot, the Shakespeare Theatre Company will hold an 11 a.m. ribbon-cutting at its soon-to-open Sidney Harman Hall (610 F St. NW), followed by tours, dance performances and peeks at rehearsals for "Tamburlaine" (2 p.m.) and "The Taming of the Shrew" (6 p.m.), as well as activities for kids. Visit http://www.shakespearetheatre.org and click on "Open House."