Playmakers Blog
Posts related to TWG.
Posted by Donnell on December 2, 2009
That's Weird Grandma Touring Performances
Donnell! It’s been a while, but I’m back and happier than ever! I’ve had the pleasure of performing in the Avondale school show so far, and I’ve signed up for a few more in the coming months. Also, if you’ve not seen That’s Weird, Grandma!, shame on you! And now on to Jelly… Nachdem jump!
Posted by Luke on November 29, 2009
Buzz among the Monkeys is that this show is not to be missed. Only two weeks left before it’s a whole new round, new cast, new show!
Also, here at BOMCOM, we consider Monday to still be part of the greater Thanksgiving holiday experience time. I know it’s strange. But you win, because it means one more week of SPECIAL THANKSGIVING PRIZES!
Enough about prizes.
The art:
The two new pieces going into the show this week are:
W-I-A-R-D – a dialogue in which 3 girls discover a cryptic note. Who wrote it and why? It was definitely written by a boy as “boys don’t have good handwriting.”
Expensive Things – a persuasive argument with the thesis “I believe all expensive things should be dropped down to three dollars!”
Insert Black Friday joke here.
See you at the show!
Tickets available here.
Running order below.
Posted by Rachel on November 23, 2009
Aw, remember when it was Halloween? And Brennan wore the pumpkin head?
And Tom didn’t want Jason to put makeup on his pumpkin face?
And everybody wore a lot of orange?
Even special limited edition Monkey Witch shirts?
That was fun.
The last Halloween story has left Grandma. Laura says she doesn’t like when holiday stories stay in after their respective holiday. I have to agree, but is it really almost Thanksgiving?
Pilgrim’s Bounty just started on World of Warcraft, so it must be true.
Two things I’m thankful for:
Our long, sunny autumn. My first winter in Chicago, the first big snow happened on October 16. We are having a sweet fall season, y’all.
AND
Getting to play Jenny for the first time ever in “Thanksgiving.”
Posted by Luke on November 22, 2009
Special Thanksgiving prizes await you after the show…
All the trimmings are in place…
Barrel of Monkeys does not attempt the theatrical style of Harold Pinter often, but when we do, the results can be devastating.
A seasonal classic is returning to the Neo this week; Thanksgiving. In it, John must fight through the icy, tension-filled silence of his dysfunctional family in order to bring joy into the room.
Also, perhaps you’re planning travel this Thanksgiving? Well, take comfort in the fact that no matter how turbulent your travel experience, it can’t go as badly as it does for the poor, naive family in The Freakey People and the Baby, this week’s other new piece. This family flies to a remote island, then leaves their baby there to be raised by juice-box-sipping natives!
See you at the Neo to witness these dramatic new pieces and many more!
Buy tickets here.
Runlist below!
Posted by Lacy on November 21, 2009
That's Weird Grandma School Shows After School Program
As Thanksgiving approaches, I look forward to the sights and sounds of the holiday season, including cheaply made electric lights, dried brush and trees, and unattended candles, all warming my 900-square-foot condo.
Speaking of mansions, perhaps this is a good time to take a look at instances of devastating housefires in both That’s Weird, Grandma and the very exciting Loyola Park After School Program show, BOTH happening Monday.
In Grandma, we have “The King and The Queen,” in which Miranda, the young queen, has a bad morning, after which she “went outside, put the mansion on fire, and left the mansion burning to flames.”
Well. Heavens.
In an untitled opus by Jaerell, making its debut at the Loyola Park show, the lead character Kenny arrives home after winning a cruise around the world, to find his luck has come to an abrupt end: “when the cruise was over, Kenny called a taxi driver but when he got into the taxi Kenny asked the address the taxi driver said the mansion was burned by people just by accident.”
People, people.
We MUST STOP BURNING our MANSIONS!
Sadly, neither character recovers from the disaster or resulting homelessness (second lesson: MAKE FRIENDS WITH PEOPLE WHO HAVE SPARE BEDROOMS) (OR AT LEAST A FUTON). The narrator from The King and The Queen informs us that Miranda “was on the street looking for money so since she didn’t have food so she died,” while over at Loyola Park, “Kenny was shocked he became homeless by the next 100 days Kenny died of heart attack Kenny was 63 years old. Fin.”
Sixty-three. So young. And Miranda was only 25. Cry, cry, monkeys. Cry.
So, what have we learned?
Fire leads to starvation and cardiac arrest.
Kenny’s story has a surprisingly artistic/european end. Or maybe Jaerell was suddenly thinking about sharks?
Food for thought this Thanksgiving, friends. I’ll mull it over while I decorate a fire extinguisher and arrange garlands attractively around our newly installed sprinkler system.