The Monkey Minute! Happy Mother’s Day

Posted by Amanda Farrar on May 7, 2015

The Monkey Minute That's Weird Grandma Company Members School Residencies

Barrel of Monkeys teaches writing residencies to students, but more often than naught it’s us who are receiving the education. There are many lessons to learn from the pens of elementary school students, and below are some that I, Amanda Farrar, have learned about what it is to be a mother.

Do you want to learn about our programs and learn from students, too? Watch this news story from CBS Chicago that aired last week and then peruse our story archives for more immersion into the wonderful imaginations of children.

Reminder: We are on a hiatus from That’s Weird, Grandma but summer Monday night performances start again on June 8!
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5 Motherhood Lessons
By Amanda Farrar

Lesson #1: The first lesson I learned about being a mom from student-authors is from “Bagels or Nothing”. “I want a SNAAACCCKKKK!” is a constant plea in my household. I took this lesson from Toby R.’s mother, and offer one snack of my choice, or nothing. Sometime my daughter picks nothing. Sometimes she eats the thing I’ve offered. But the negotiation tactic totally works. Thanks, Toby and Toby’s mom!

Untitled (Bagels or Nothing)
By Toby R, Dawes Elementary

My mom said I had to pick nothing or bagels I pickt nothing. I don’t like bagels.

Lesson #2: Mothers, like everyone, are not infallible. Our bad and sad days are their bad and sad days, too.

Good Days and Bad Days
By Joemy P., Johnson School of Excellence

I believe I want to change bad days to good days sad days to happy days far days to close days scared days to brave days.  So people won’t be mad or people won’t be bad.  So people can have good day.  I wish my mom would have better days.  THen bad days she can have lovely days.  Some people are not equal.  So are not happy.  SO that I don’t have to be scared.  Why I believe in miracles.  The End

Lesson #3: If it comes down to it, your mom will kick butt. Even to battle a celebrity-monster/monster-celebrity.

Untitled (Beach)
By Lynda H., 4th Grade, Chalmers School of Excellence

On a hot sunny day I went to the beach with my mom. At the beach it was all super stars and the stars didn’t talk to me, so I went up to Hannah Montana and I said “hi” and she said the same, but that wasn’t really Hannah Montana it was a monster. I knew it was a monster because he pulled of his wig and mask. So he pick me up and I call my mom then she came to kick his butt and after that we went home and I tell my sister and brother all about it. The name of the stars was Lil Wayne, Justin Beiber, Sonny With a Chance and Chris Brown.

Lesson #4: How hard you work to get it all done? Yeah. They get it. Probably more than you realize.

The Darkness
By Taniya J., Willa Cather Elementary School

Once upon a time there was a lady who was by herself and she was just looking around and she was on the bridge. She wanted to swim home in the water but she had on her work clothes so she couldn’t because she had to go to work in the morning and the whole family was going out and there was nobody to watch her kids so her kids were about to go with their dad but he had work in the morning too and then her kids start crying so then she said to herself I need to swim home but I got on my work clothes and I got work in the morning and the clouds were dark and scary and she saw a scary mountains then she saw her husband and her kids and then her whole family came and saved her and she hopped in the car and went home. THE END.

Lesson #5: By doing you what you do as a parent for your child, you can be their superhero.

Superhero Story (my mom)
By Destiny C., 4th Grade, Chalmers School of Excellence

My Super hero is my Mom. Her powers are too take care of me and her 2 other kids. What happen was she took care of me as I grew up. It’s my point of view because I’m telling people who is my hero and superhero because she’s a nice mom who do things for me like put clothes on my back, and she’s a person who have strong powers by doing stuff like getting me up in the morning, taking me to fun place, and most of all trying to help me get an education.

Thank you for all the lessons, student-authors. And thank you to all the moms, and dads, grandparents, aunts, uncles, godparents, foster parents…anyone who helps raise a young person.

The Monkey Minute!

Posted by Amanda Farrar on April 29, 2015

The Monkey Minute That's Weird Grandma Company Members Celebration of Authors School Shows School Residencies

Barrel of Monkeys teaches creative writing residencies in Chicago Public Schools to third through fifth grade students. During our time with students, the team of five teaching artists create a safe and supportive space for students to express themselves. Company member Marika Mashburn tells us about some of the more heart-wrenchingly beautiful stories written by our student-authors and adapted for the stage by Barrel of Monkeys.

Be radically kind to one another, Monkey friends! We’ll see you at our performances this summer beginning Monday, June 8.

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5 Beautiful Stories from the Hearts of Children
By Marika Mashburn

You might think that a theatre company who adapts stories about Monsters, Aliens and Dinosaurs only has a bunch of weird and happy stories in its wheelhouse.  But here at Barrel of Monkeys, our teaching artists encourage Chicago Public School scholars to write whatever they wish – no judgments on the subject or theme.  Sometimes, those beautiful stories will truly break your heart.  Here are five stories about heartbreak and loss, written by Chicago Public School students, that we have adapted for the stage.

Two Friends
By Ashley F., Garfield Park After School Program

Once upon a time there was a T-Rex named Corey.  Everyday he went to his job where he ate cars.  He ate trucks, long trucks with lots of metal.  One day he saw a rat that was 10 inches.  He screamed, “Mommy!”
T-Rex: Mommy!
Rat: You don’t have to be afraid of me.
T-Rex: But I am.
Rat: (starts crying…cries real hard.  Hard enough to make a big puddle)
T-Rex: I’m sorry.
Rat: You hurt my feelings.
T-Rex: You want to play with me and have fun together?
Rat: Yes.
T-Rex: Do you want to be my friend?
Rat: Yes I will like to be your friend.
T-Rex: Friends forever and ever.
They play by the pad together.  Then he said “We’re going to do everything together forever.”  The next day Corey the T-Rex had to go to work then he went to rats house and said, “Do you want t come with me to work?” “Yes I like that.”
T-Rex: Boss I found someone to be the clean up boy.
Rat: I’m going to be a clean up boy.
T-Rex: Yes you are.
Rat: started crying, cause he was happy.
One day the rat is taking out all of the metal.  Then people circle around him.  They kick him, they punch him so hard that he died.  The T-Rex came he started crying and running.  I’m sorry I let that happen but the rat was dead.

This wonderful narrative/dialogue was performed in our Barrel of Monkeys 5th Anniversary Season Special.  It made our audiences laugh and cry. 

My Dreams of My Dad Visiting Me
By Rachel D., Graham Elementary School

Every Dream I have my dad appears he started to appear after 12:00 three days after he died and he appears and we always start off dancing and he sings a song about loving me he always tries to remind me but when he goes to say I love you I had to wake up at 6:30 and get ready for the day and I always think about it and last Sunday he got to tell me everything like I love you, your safe, don’t cry, will see each other again, and we remember each other using are hearts, that’s what my dreams are.  The End.

This personal narrative was staged simply and sweetly, and there wasn’t a dry eye in the house when we performed it for Celebration of Authors. 

Untitled by Rene, Avondale-Logandale Elementary School

Once upon a time there was a very sad microwave oven because they did not use it to heat up food.  It always cried every night because they did not use it and it wanted to leave from the house and leave to other things and following day they were going to use for the first time but it (the microwave) wasn’t there and they looked for it and called the police and put papers (flyers) saying looking for a microwave oven and at last / finally they found it in a house.  The End.

Nobody likes to feel underutilized, and we turned this cautionary tale into a jazzy number that was a huge hit. 

The Tiny Door in the Back of My Closet
By Tyler W., Cleveland School

I had never noticed the tiny door in the back of my closet before. I opened and saw a friendly monster that was scared of me. Then in a few more weeks and he knew me well and we started to play in my room. Then my mom came in and the monster had to hide. Then my mom said that I had to clean my room then my mom closed the door. After that the monster came out and help me clean my room and we finished the room quickly then we played some more and then the monster fainted. Then he got up in an hour. Then he died.

Every kid needs a best friend they can count on, and losing that best friend can sometimes make you feel happy and sad, all at the same time.  We explored having all of the feelings when we adapted this story for the stage. 

My Streets is Always Quiet
By Takayla N., New Sullivan Elementary School

I believe that I want my streets to be quiet and peaceful.  And I don’t want no fighting or gun shots.  If my street was peaceful, me and my friends could play outside and play jump rope.  If my street was quiet and peaceful I would be less bored because I could go outside instead of having to stay inside.  If there were no arguments on my street I could say hello to my neighbors, I could hang out, and then go back outside and have fun.  That is why I believe my street should be quiet and peaceful.  The End.

This lovely argument was turned into a beautiful song, and has been featured recently in That’s Weird, Grandma.

The Monkey Minute!

Posted by Amanda Farrar on April 9, 2015

The Monkey Minute That's Weird Grandma Company Members

Barrel of Monkeys has upwards of 65 active members. These company and ensemble members lovingly refer to themselves as “Monkeys”. Monkeys act as teaching artists in the classroom, adapt the stories written by the students for the stage, perform them for the students in the schools, and finally, perform for YOU at That’s Weird, Grandma almost every week.

Each Monkey is paid for their work in the schools, but donate their time to perform in That’s Weird, Grandma to allow the revenue generated from these public performances to support our arts education programs in schools that need them the most.

Below, Lacy Campbell describes what it’s like to walk into a show that has been going on almost nonstop since 2001. You can see her and all her Monkey friends Sundays at 2pm through April.

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It’s Hard To Be Laura McKenzie
By Lacy Campbell

One of the [many] joys of being in That’s Weird, Grandma is that as a company member of Barrel of Monkeys, you can hop in and out of shows. Have some time on your hands? Sign up to do the show for six weeks! Want to do a play with another theater? No problem, sit the next one out and someone else will step in for you. 

However, since the cast is constantly shifting in a fruitbasket turnover of tangled wigs and tutus, this means that many of us end up sharing roles. For example, Laura McKenzie won’t be in the next few weeks of That’s Weird, Grandma, so I’m taking over a few of her roles.

But here’s the real problem:
I can’t be Laura!!!
NO ONE CAN BE LAURA.

The facial expressions!? The physical comedy!? Her reaction when Horsewolf eats her hair and she’s initially furious, then realizes it’s Horsewolf and beams with pride and delight?* …Guys, I have huge shoes to fill.

But that’s the thing. I gotta fill them, and somehow, I will. On Sunday at 2pm.

Last weekend, in our seven-hour “learn, stage, and perform an entire show!” frenzied sprint that is New That’s Weird, Grandma Cast Weekend, the entire cast took on this impossible task in different ways. Mary Winn has to be Ryan in I Am A Butcher and I Love Meat. Gwen has to take over for Jen in Tragic Fireworks, and some poor soul has to step into Donnell’s role in Princess Who Don’t Like Ketchup.

In Monkeys, we are constantly raising the bar for each other by trying to be as wonderful as the person who went before us.

Who was the first dog you saw in The Dog Was Dead? I can no longer remember if the first dog I saw was Kristie, Molly, Erica, or Emjoy.  They all are fantastic. They all are hilarious. I guarantee they all felt terrified that they couldn’t possibly be as amazing as the dog who went before.

They all were.
We all are.
Show’s at 2:00pm on Sunday. See you there!

*all these things actually happen. Please see Horsewolf, it’s such a good story.

The Monkey Minute!

Posted by Amanda Farrar on March 18, 2015

The Monkey Minute That's Weird Grandma Company Members School Shows School Residencies After School Program

After teaching creative writing residencies in a Chicago Public School or the Chicago Park District, teaching artists collect the students’ notebooks and share them with several of the company’s ensemble of professional actors and musicians. Together, the teaching artists, actors, and musicians adapt selected stories for the stage and return to the school to present an original performance drawn entirely from the student-written material.

How do the story adaptations currently being performed in That’s Weird, Grandma measure up? Come judge for yourself. Tickets available now for Sundays at 2pm through April 26 and only 2 more Monday at 8pm performances!

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Adventures in Adaptation
By: Oona Kersey Hatton

I joined Barrel of Monkeys in 2000. At that time we were rehearsing in a converted warehouse space that was used during the day as a doggie daycare. It had a concrete floor and was surprisingly clean, with only the faintest redolence of the daytime occupants.

I was so excited to be in the ensemble, and I had signed up for the first show of the year. One of my first adaptations was a collaboration with Ryan Walters, Erica Rosenfeld Halverson, and Tom Malinowski. I remember very little about the story except that it involved two forest animals getting into a heated altercation that they ultimately brought to the Bottom of the Pond (personified) for mediation. I played the Bottom of the Pond. Other cast members played Bugs Bunny (an example of how celebrity characters frequently appear in stories, often out of context) and other small mammals.

We had a great time with our adaptation, which showed the animals getting into a fight and then trying to resolve the dispute by all sharing their versions of “what really happened.” This meant that we essentially acted out the story three times. In our creative vision, the differences in each repetition—which relied on subtle adjustments to character portrayal—were increasingly hilarious and absurd. In reality, the satire would have been impossible for an audience of any age to discern—first, because the size and acoustics of the performance space would have rendered any but the most exaggerated contrasts impossible to discern, and second, because the audience had very little opportunity to get to know the characters and therefore would have difficulty grasping how they were being parodied.

If this criticism seems a little heady, take the word of an audience member from that fateful morning. A student sitting in the front row turned to her companion in the middle of our performance and exclaimed, “this story is too long.” We immediately recognized that her assessment was correct, and we enjoyed repeating this pithy critique for years to come.

I left that morning with a few thoughts that my next ten years in Barrel of Monkeys would confirm:
1. The audience is always right.
2. Repetition needs justification.
3. Not every adaptation will be a slam dunk.

I use these and hundreds of other Barrel of Monkeys-lessons every day as I teach and continue to make theatre.

The Monkey Minute!

Posted by Amanda Farrar on March 11, 2015

The Monkey Minute That's Weird Grandma Company Members School Shows School Residencies After School Program

In each and every school show since Barrel of Monkeys’ inception in 1997, one or more student-written stories have been adapted into song for the stage. Multiply that by upwards of 15 original school shows each year, and you have a couple hundred songs in the archives!

We have so many songs, in fact, that presently That’s Weird, Grandma is an all-musical revue! You can see 16 of some of our most favored songs adapted from the incredible work of student writers this Sunday at 2pm and Monday at 8pm. Jennifer Johnson, author of the following blog entry and current performer in That’s Weird Grandma: The Musical, shares some of her most favorite epic Barrel of Monkeys songs that have not yet made their way into the current show! Enjoy celebrating the power of these students’ imaginations!

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My Favorite Epic Barrel of Monkeys Songs
By Jennifer Johnson

In the classroom, we encourage students in Barrel of Monkeys writing programs to continue stories they’ve started or we ask specific questions to further their creativity during the writing process. Sometimes, a student is ready to write! And the product is long, detailed, complicated, creative and fabulous. Below are my favorite epically long stories written by students in Chicago Public Schools that we’ve turned into songs.

Sculpting Alaska

By Gautam R., Hough Street School
“Let the competition begin,” boomed the announcer, as I quickly started planning out my ice sculpture. Scrape, scrape, scrape, went my carving tool as I knocked away ice. This was the regular carving routine. We were at the 2000 year end ice sculpting contest in Alaska. Nobody would think of such a wonderful sculpture as a fish sculpture. “Hey Jimmy,” a voice shouted, how you doing? Continued!

Sculpting Alaska was brilliantly staged using the entire cast. There are so many great characters to play in this story/song. Two people even played the actual ice sculptures!

IRS Moles

By Ben L., Hough Street School
Eeooo! The sirens rang throughout the city. Speakers popped out of buildings. “Run, the IRS Moles are coming” said the speakers. Everyone ran. They knew that moles would make them pay. “Come on” said Harold to his mother as they ran. “But the cookies” said his mother, “we need them.” “We’ll have to leave them” said Harold. “Dang” said his sister. “I say we fight back against this tax collecting” said Bob who was 2 and very smart. Continued!

I was in the original cast of this—I got to sing “Dang, not the cookies!” It’s one of the best lines I’ve ever sung in a BOM song!

IRS Moles from Barrel of Monkeys on Vimeo.

The Race

By Dorian W., South Loop School
Once upon a time there was a man named Truman.  And he was joining the Big Race finals to win $300.  When he was practicing he run 5 miles a day.  When he run home he took his dog out and ran with his dog.  His dog was named Ace.  His dog was really nice and could run so fast.  He was the fastest dog in the whole world. Truman was a gym teacher. Continued!

I love The Race because in the end Truman races by jumping in the sack—it’s so exciting to watch!

The Evil Kangaroo

By Emilio G., Loyola Park After School Program
Once upon a time in 1212 BC and now in the middle of the ocean there was a city named Freeopolis that no one knew about.  Everyone was happy until Professor Wiggems built an experiment on kangaroos.  It went completely wrong.  The kangaroo escaped and destroyed the city, then when there’s no hope left it’s to be continued…The island sinks and the kangaroo finds a boat. Continued!

Emilio G. wrote many stories about evil kangaroos and Professor Wiggems, but this one is my favorite! It’s staged with lots of action and verses!

A long story creates a wonderful basis for a musical theatre masterpiece!