Our students love writing about zombies - in fact, they’re such a common character in the stories we adapt that zombie-related items are a normal part of our costume stock! So, when choosing stories for That’s Weird, Grandma: Ghosts, Ghouls and Talking Potatoes, we knew sketches about these beloved undead creatures were an inevitable part of our line-up.
Here are three that you’ll see when you join us for this Sunday’s closing performance.
1. Zombie Potion
Did you know that IHOP has a Potion Day? We didn’t either, but it’s an integral part of this story by Edwin from Peirce School of International Studies. A group of women decide to go to IHOP for Potion Day - but when they create a zombie potion that their husbands accidentally drink, they soon find themselves with zombie-husbands.
At Ihop Women made a zombie potion. Each women made one. They left the potion in the fridge. Their husbands thought it was something to drink and drank it. The husbands turned to zombies . . .
2. Zombie Story
Ethan from our Loyola Park After-School Program brings us a choose-your-own-adventure story that ends in the reader either escaping a zombie invasion, getting eaten by zombies, or escaping the zombies but being nuked by the military. To keep to the story’s original form, we adapted it into a game show complete with audience participation and two possible endings.
Which one will you see? It all depends on what you and your fellow audience members tell the contestants to do!
p1
You find a strange man walking in an alley. Do you ... Talk to him? if so go to page 2. Walk away? If so go to page 3.
p2
You talk to him. He moans and walks towards you. Do you… walk away? if so go to page 3. Stay there? if so go to pg 4 . . .
3. Malcolm X and the Zombie and Monster Infection
Malcolm R. from Dixon Elementary put a twist on history with this story. Malcolm X goes out one day to photograph the zombies and monsters taking over his city, but he ends up in a fight with the creatures. Don’t worry, though - he’s accompanied by his trusty sidekicks Gerald and Jayden as well as an awesome pair of brass knuckles.
There once was a man named Malcolm X. One day Malcolm was taking pictures and recording. There were a lot of zombies and mutated humans (monsters) in the city. Malcolm was not scared at all,not a bit. He was in the military and he went to the bottom of his building. He put on brass knuckles and started punching and fighting.
Sunday is your last chance to catch our cast’s best zombie impressions in this round of That’s Weird, Grandma! It’s our final performance until December, so be sure to get your tickets here.
Jasmine believes the original “Poltergeist” is spine-chilling.
“Silent Hill” is unnerving to Jen.
The original “The Omen” has haunted Jean for years.
Lev feels “Annabelle” is frightening.
And I still have nightmares about “An American Werewolf in London.”
Any of these give you the creeps?
If you want a Halloween experience that’s a bit more on the silly side, join us for That’s Weird, Grandma: Ghosts, Ghouls, and Talking Potatoes this Sunday at 3. And to celebrate the spookiest holiday of the year, we’re throwing a special costume party this weekend only – kids 12 and under who wear a costume to the show get in for free!* We’ll see you at The Neo-Futurists Theater!
*Applies to walk-up sales for the Sunday, October 28 performance only. Kids must be accompanied by an adult. Limit three free kids’ tickets per party.
There’s no shortage of creepy creatures in Barrel of Monkeys students’ stories. Our teaching artists often find themselves reading pieces about zombies, witches, ghosts, and new supernatural beings that our students invent.
Rayan S. from Dixon Elementary, the young author of “The Unknown Granddaughter,” describes this story’s title character as a “photo terror.” Is the granddaughter a ghost? A ghoul? We aren’t entirely sure, but we do know that her name is Konny, she appears in the Townerson family’s slideshow, and she’s incredibly terrifying.
One day two grandparents John and Michelle Townerson wanted to look through pictures because they were getting old and wanted to remember memories. SO as they looked through pictures they came across a picture of their daughter Melinda and her husband Kyle Bollywood and their three children, one boy and two twins. The Townersons only knew about two of the grandchildren, the boy Kyle Jr. and one twin Jayla. The other twin looked creepy . . .
2. Vampiresses
Should vampiresses be able to be in the light and drink anybody’s blood? Bella P. from Cleveland Elementary considers the question in this persuasive argument:
I think Vampiresses should be able to be in the light and drink anybody’s blood
1)That’s the only thing they eat and drink.
2)The whole world would be vampiresses and vampires
3) We wouldn’t be afraid of each other
I think Vampiresses shouldn’t be able to be in the light and drink anybody’s blood
1) Vampiresses and vampires get bernd from the light
2) Everybody would be dead if they had no blood
3) There would be no one to be a vampiresses and vampires ‘cus they would be all dead
3. The Old Lady in the Ceiling With So Much Coins
During True Story Day in our residency at Graves Elementary, Angelica recounted a story that her family from Las Vegas told her about an “old lady that lives in the ceiling with so much coins.” Anyone who touches this lady or her coins dies - and when Angelica visited her Grandmother and Grandfather in Mexico, she had her own frightful encounter with the Old Lady.
Is that last part fact or fiction? We may never know . . .
My family that lives in Las Vegas came to visit to Chicago and We did a bonfire and my God mother was telling a scary story about a old lady in the ceiling with so much coins and if you touch it you would be dead and this story happened in Mexico. My God Mother and My God Father were sleeping when the story happens that was the house of my Grama and Grampa. When I went to Mexico I went to the house of my Grama I went to the room and i saw the old lady I saw so much coin . . .
Our cast brings these characters (and more!) to the Neo-Futurists stage every Sunday at 3pm through November 4 - get your tickets here.
Plus, join us next Sunday, October 28 for a special one-day-only Halloween offer. Kids twelve and under that wear a costume get in for free!*
*Limit 3 free tickets per group; must be accompanied by an adult. Door sales only.
Learn more about the show in our interview with him below - and then grab your tickets here. We’re performing every Sunday at 3pm through November 4. And if you want to make a full day out of theatre-going, check out our newest package in collaboration with The Neo-Futurists - The Monkey Wrench. You’ll save money and get to see both That’s Weird, Grandma and their 60-minute barrage of short plays The Infinite Wrench!
If you’ve seen the subtitle of our upcoming round of That’s Weird, Grandma - Ghosts, Ghouls and Talking Potatoes - you might be wondering who exactly this talking potato is. Well, he’s the title character in “Old Man Potaters,” a story by Brian B. from Wharton Elementary School.
While Old Man P. hasn’t made his debut on the Neo-Futurists stage yet, he was featured in our school show in the Summit, IL school district, and he also made an appearance during our annual end-of-year performance, Celebration of Authors. He’s become one of our favorite new characters, and we’re excited to finally share his story with Chicago theatre-goers in That’s Weird, Grandma!
Here’s a quick look at the beginning of Brian’s story:
Old Man P was a very curious potato he would wander everywhere
One day he wondered little bit to far. . .
. . . and he said “Oh no wheres my wittle farm he cried and cried AAAAh! Farm where did you go?”
Do Old Man Potaters’ animal friends end up finding him? And does he make his way back to his beloved farm? We don’t want to spoil the story for you - so come find out for yourself in just a few weeks at That’s Weird, Grandma: Ghosts, Ghouls and Talking Potatoes, performing Sundays at 3 p.m., October 7 - November 4. This Halloween-themed line-up includes scary (and silly) stories by Chicago elementary school students, featuring new characters like Old Man Potaters as well as classic characters from BOM’s repertoire.
We can’t wait to kick off our 2018-19 season with you, so be sure to book your tickets ahead of time here!
