Posted by Joe on June 10, 2015
That's Weird Grandma
TWG Weekly Update
The Coo-Coo Lady and OG Granny join the cannon of characters that have entertained audiences at the Neo on Monday nights!
Check out these two gals!
Crazy Lady
By Eukyirah W., Morton School of Excellence
Once there was a woman who was crazy. She was known for her name because she lived in a creepy house and she kept saying Coo-coo all the time at the house she was very very crazy she was known as the Coo-coo lady. THE END.
OG Granny Mad
By Rayanna E., Morton School of Excellence
Once upon a time there was a lady name OG granny. She was so mad she had to go get some nachos for her self and then she went back to the house and then she said Fluffy why did you do that to me. Then she said girl lets go party today so we can go dance and have fun. Dance Dance Dance. Lets go and then she was mad that someone lost her money so she said where my money
THE END.
Say “Coo-Coo” to Ambar at the box office to receive discounted tickets!
See you at the show!
Joe
Posted by Joe on June 5, 2015
That's Weird Grandma
TWG Weekly Update
The wait is over!
That’s Weird, Grandma is back with a runlist pumped with 2014-15 school year favorites!
Check out this “all thriller, no filler” runlist:
Elsa and Anna and the Attacking Zombies by Ameena W., Super 7 Program at Cather Elementary
DRAGON CITY—Lunaire F., Poe Classical School
A Most Boring Bus That Is Filled with Snakes by Maximo R., Loyola Park After-School Program
I Believe That Crocodiles Should be Domestic Animals by Frank G., Columbia Explorers Academy
Derick’s/Deasia’s Happy Life by Chauntyra G., Dewey School of Excellence
Girls Need Education By Abby O., Avondale-Logandale School
THE AMAZING ZURINE—Bella D. , Loyola Park After School Program
THE LONG DAY—Darryl M., Dewey School of Excellence
Alien Invasion by Kayode O. & Caleb G., Poe Classical School
DOCTOR STUPID HEAD—Brooke P., Poe Classical School
THE ASTRONAUT—Jimmy S., Morton School of Excellence
The Sad Pizza by Matthew G., Poe Classical School
UNTITLED (HORSEWOLF)—Tamarra M., Dewey School of Excellence
SHARK AND THE WHALE—Omarion B., Morton
Betty Gill by Bella D., Loyola Park After-School Program
CRAZY TOPIC—Leandro Z., Loyola Park After-School Program
Say “Now it’s my turn to drive the bus” to Ambar at the box office and get discounted tickets!
Posted by hpalmer on May 24, 2015
School Shows
Hey there, everyone! James and I (Hailey) are doing our first Barrel of Monkeys school show! We’ve been having a lot of fun in rehearsals, learning about how the Monkeys adapt stories from journals into an entire production in just a handful of rehearsals. In the Dixon show, James is playing everything from a plotting caterpillar to Dave Parker, a man who resorts to eating his own clothes. I get to play a daughter who swaps bodies with her dad (pictured below), the side an epic mountain, and a lot of other things that I can’t wait to show the students.
James and I sat down and had a real conversation about our experience as noobs in a Monkey show. Here are some things we learned about each other:
1. We were both new Monkey teachers at Dixon during our residency there this spring. We both found the experience really inspirational.
2. Both of us learned a lot from the Monkey agreements that we talk about with the students everyday, specifically every idea is a good idea and respect yourself and others. We talked about how applying those agreements in our own lives helps us live more positively and openly.
3. James mentioned how much he appreciated how there has been no ego involved in the rehearsal process. I totally agreed.
4. I mentioned how I found rehearsals to be uplifting. James agreed. We talked about the importance of play and honoring what the student authors write.
5. James’ favorite word is histrionics. Mine is ghoul. We liked learning this about each other too.
Rehearsals have flown by and we’re pumped to be in our first Monkey show on Tuesday morning!
Posted by Bryan on May 15, 2015
School Shows
Hi, internet! This is your good friend Bryan letting you know all is well—nay, FANTASTIC—with the North Lawndale school show adapting process. And I’ll have you know that it’s especially thrilling for me to be in on this collection of stories, having been one of the teachers at one of the school involved. Yes, having just finished our in-the-classroom workshop residency at Chalmers School of Excellence, Monkey Courtney and I are lucky in that we get to jump right into the making of our students’ freshly-writ stories into plays.
In fact, this school show is unique in that it teams-up four amazing schools, all in the North Lawndale area and each with their own residencies, into one big show. Chalmers School of Excellence, Dvorak School of Excellence, Herzl School of Excellence, and Johnson School of Excellence are all on the roster of this Avengers-level superhero troop, and I’m glad I get to be a part of this display of community.
Here’s a moment in rehearsal where monkeys Ashley, Elisa, Evie, and Geoff are a group of friends jamming out to their boombox, but I feel like they could easily be a quartet of supe’s warming up to battle some evil foe.
**Note to self: Explore a writing activity where we act out a story from a picture (a la Picture Day), take a snapshot of the acting, then write a totally new story based off of the snapshot. Lather, Rinse, Repeat until infinity!
Now that I think of it, the world could use a superhero team like that, with the energy, talent and creativity of all of our student writers, to overcome a fearsome cataclysmic event like the one depicted in one of our stories we’ll perform in the show, which I leave you with now:
The Ancient Attack
by Justin S., Johnson School of Excellence
Day 13 12:30pm April 15th. One night a war started. The dead dinosaurs came back alive. Every civilan in U.S.A. moved to other places. Cops soldiers and vehicles blocked the bridges to U.S.A.
Day 40 9:50am December 4093. Dead bodies and dead dinosaurs were everywhere
Eagle Wing 3: I just found 10 pterodactyls
Eagle Wing 2: Captain I’m going down. A dinosaur is inside my osprey!
Warthog 6: Our vehicles are destroyed but they have now turned into barriers when the T Rex stepped on them. Oh no we’re under attack run run run!!!
To be continued
Posted by Amanda Farrar on May 14, 2015
The Monkey Minute
Company Members
Celebration of Authors
School Shows
School Residencies
As the end of the school year approaches, Barrel of Monkeys is hard at work in the rehearsal room adapting student-written work from our writing residencies for the stage to be performed for the student-authors and their peers in their schools! Emeritus Monkey and past Artistic Director Luke Hatton describes the fast and furious adaptation process and the joys of collaboration to adequately celebrate the voices of students on the stage.
Do you want to see some of the most exciting work from this year performed for the students, their families, and the public? Please join us for the FREE performance of Celebration of Authors on June 2 at the University of Chicago’s Logan Center! This show features one story from each of our residencies conducted during the 2014-15 school year performed by upwards of 30 Monkey actor/educators. Call 312-409-1954 for reservations.
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Adventures in Group Song Writing
By Luke Hatton
The Barrel of Monkeys school show rehearsal process is always fast and furious. Every moment is valuable. On a particular day in the Winter of 2010 we were working on an upcoming performance at Columbia Explorer’s Academy. We were missing a few actors, so couldn’t productively review anything we’d already created and nothing that musicians had taken home to adapt was ready to stage. We were stuck.
Philip, one of our musicians, had taken some students’ poems home to adapt into a rap. He said it wasn’t finished. Desperate to use our valuable time productively, I said to him, “Would it be all right if we all work on the rap together?” Fortunately, he said yes. This is a hallmark of how Monkeys operate creatively. There’s rarely if ever ego involved. So Philip played us the instrumental of No Diggity which he was thinking would underscore the piece. People started bopping to the piece. We’d overcome our temporary inertia. Quickly I had everyone grab a partner and one of the pieces and for about 20 minutes the room was alive with pairs of Monkeys spitting mad beats, devising hilarious choreo. The final product was tremendous: total commitment and abandon to the pieces (reprinted below). Group song writing doesn’t always work, but thank god for the ‘yes and’ Spirit of the Monkey, because this time it worked gloriously.
Puffins Muffins
By Alejandro I.
Oh baby oh baby
I’m talkin’ puffins you
fly like a kite up in
the sky you like
muffins when
your hand cuffin
Remix
By Joshua P.
Oh baby oh baby I’m
talking about Ms. Parise style yo.
I see you writing but you don’t see
me writing. When I see you you don’t
see me because I am under my desk looking
for sandwich extra beef don’t forget the tomato
I’m really hungry. I did eat but I want to eat again
my doctor said you got eat 10 meals day.
Skateboarding
By Gustavo P.
Oh baby oh baby I’m talking about
Skateboarding, at the skate park, you know
how I do it, it’s hard, but I know, I know
ollie, kickflip, 360, 180, 180 kickflip, you know
what I’m talking, oh baby, oh baby. Remix! yo!
Oh baby, Oh baby, I’m O.P.P., It stands for
other peoples’ plastic yo. You got to go
green don’t be a fool, don’t go cheesey afar
cheesey
All about you
By Alfredo V.
Oh baby, Oh baby I’m
thinking all about you
Oh, baby, oh, baby I’m
thinking all about you!
You hypnotize all about you!
I can’t stand all about you!
You should not leave me around
I will hunt you down. I will
search you down! I’m thinking all
about yooouuuuuuuuuuuuu!
You!
Were the only one to kiss
AAAAAAA!
You!
would look!
like!
a!
Beautiful!
Person!
Lollipop Chair
By Miriam H.
Look at my candy.
“Oh no the bug eat it.
look at my candy again.
look how delicious is it
“ill the bug eat it again.
Pop the candy broke.
“Oh my god what am I going to do
Pop the candy broke again.
