PlayMakers Laboratory Story Archive
Tickets are On Sale for CELEBRATION OF AUTHORS 2026 on June 27!
Attire: Fancy Schmancy where you can come Fancy – dressed to the nines in your best attire. Or you can come Schmancy – with a silly hat or funny outfit that expresses YOU!
You can bid on our amazing Silent Auction Prizes at the event, or remotely from anywhere! Silent Auction items include: A Trip to Mexico with Vidanta Resorts, A Sailing Excursion, An At-Home Dungeons & Dragons Session, Dining Packages, Sports Tickets, Theatre Tickets, and MORE! Stay tuned for a preview and get those bids ready!
This is the most affordable & most FUN Gala in town!
Tickets include food, drinks, a show, and activities for all ages!
EARLY BIRD Adult Tickets (available through 5/31)—$50
EARLY BIRD Youth Tickets, ages 4 to 15 (available through 5/31)—$35
Adult Regular Tickets —$75
Youth Regular Tickets, ages 4 to 15 —$50
Children 3 years of age and under can attend for FREE
Because PlayMakers’ students rock, they typically go on to do exciting things. Every year, we use our banquet to honor a special alum. This year’s Annual Storyteller of the Year Award goes to Isabella Wilhemy Sanchez. Isabella is a special effects make up designer, and former PlayMakers Laboratory student!!!
Isabella Wilhelmy Sanchez has been in the performing arts ever since she was a student at Play Makers Laboratory. She graduated as a theater major from Lincoln Park High School and has been working in the Chicago Indie film scene working on shorts like The Crossing 2020, Perfectly Sane 2025, Wild Party 2025 and I Only Sleep When The Room Is Pitch Black 2025. Isabella has worked under Chicago based makeup artist Anthony Kosar learning more of the makeup profession and learning skills like laying beards and applying prosthetics to create characters/monsters. Isabella’s passion for story telling was nurtured by the teaching artists at PML and is thrilled to join us at the Celebration of Authors gala to share more of her journey, and to celebrate creatives of all ages in Chicago.
Can’t attend our party? We’ll miss you! Consider donating to support arts education in Chicago. Thank you!
This event is a fundraiser to support PML’s outstanding creative writing programming in partnership with Chicago Public Schools. 100% of the tickets proceeds will support PML classes! For 29 years PlayMakers Laboratory has served Chicago Public School students by providing a creative writing residency program aimed primarily at elementary schools. Our company of over 60 teaching artists utilizes creative drama and storytelling to promote literacy and self esteem during our in-school residencies and park district programming. Each year, our programs serve more than 4,000 young people across Chicago. In our 6 week writing residencies, a whopping 88% of students improve writing scores by at least one level over the course of our residencies. Plus, 100% of classroom teachers report that our program supports their student’s writing and improves confidence and self-esteem.
Wintrust Bank
Forward Space
The Chicago Community Trust,
Chicago Department of Cultural Affairs and Special Events,
The Crown Family Philanthropies,
The Field Foundation,
The Illinois Arts Council
The Mardi Gras Fund,
The Paul M. Angell Foundation,
The Polk Bros Foundation,
The Siragusa Family Foundation,
And generous Individuals like you!
The National Museum of Mexican Art has a ramp and is accessible to wheelchairs, both manual and electric. PML staff are not able to assist patrons transferring to or from a wheelchair, theatre seat or vehicle. Service animals are permitted. At this time there is not a planned usage of audio descriptions, Open Captioning, or for ASL interpreters to be in attendance. For any additional accessibility information or requests, please email admin@playmakerslab.org.
By Louis, 3rd Grade, Skinner West Elementary
Once there was a king that had so much power that he could make the sun go up and down. One day a UFO abducted the king and the king crashed the ufo and forgot that he was in the ufo so he died as well and all the town was happy because the king was a very bad king and the town lived very peaceful for the next 10 days then a dinosaur destroyed the town.
The End and to be continued
By Gabe, 4th Grade, Peirce International School
Once upon a time I went to Micheal Jordan’s house just to look at it in front of the gate. When We got there we got out of the car and we all thought, WOW! It was huge, unbelievable, impeckible. So we walked closer and I herd a voice. It sounded like it a speaker. We got too close. It was security so we ran back to the car drove way as fast as we could
The End.
By Abrielle, Markayla, Jennifer, Eriane, Marquette Park
Collin is at a press conference threatening to banish all non speaking dogs. Suzy Q says, “If I had a nickel for every dog that could talk I’d have 1 singular nickel. AKA there’s only 1 dog that talks and it’s Jerry.” Jerry also speaks up and says, “You’re just a comedian, you don’t know what you’re talking about.” Joey, an opposing politician says “We’ll use business with other countries.” Joey calls Supreme Puppy Palace Court to resolve this matter. The Puppy Court sends Collin to jail for ten years. Suzy Q is now the owner of Jerry and the White House! The End.
By Jaylah, Jonah, Reid, Alisa, Lincoln Park
Once upon a time there was a girl named Sophie in England, drinking sweet tea, visiting the Queen. This was her first time drinking tea and it was too sweet. And she accidentally spits it out on the queen’s corgi. The Queen is mad and kicks her out. The Queen banishes her from England so Sophie moves to America in Washington DC. And successfully becomes the 1st female president. They go to war with England, her former friend. She captures the Queen and makes England a part of the New United States of America. But it isn’t enough. Ashe’s become obsessed with power and goes to war with France. She wins that war. Little did Spohie know that the Queen had a secret child with the mayor of France, and they called him Richard Jmaes Charles III. They told him to tell everyone in America how wrong Sophie was. She tells everyone not to listen because if they do they’ll get thrown into jail like Richard James Charles III. But Richard escapes and duels Sophie for the fate of America. And Richard wins. Now England is not a part of America and neither is France. The End.
By Ameria, Terrell, Mattea, Tatianna, Palmer Park
In Ancient times near the watering hole:
Kirito and Dino Nuggie were drinking water at the watering hole. The next day, Dino Nuggie woke up on the wrong side of the rock and was hoping Kirito wasn’t trying to have water. Sure enough, Kirito took his place at the watering hole next to Dino Nuggie which was quite the vibe. Dino Nuggie pushes Kirito away from the watering hole, so Kirito summons his man, Bill Bob Joe, to help win the battle. Kirito’s egg shell cracks, and becomes a dragon and eats Dino Nuggie. The watering hole was now available only for Kirito and Bill Bob Joe.nThe End.
By Valerie, Naomi, Miles, Ava, Emilie, Leah, Charlize, Cammy, Max R., Max Z., Andre, Humboldt Park
Once there was a little girl named Ellie. She was seven. She liked the color pink. She was at her house in the basement. It was really creepy because there were skeletons and zombies! There was also a scary monster who ate people and zombies. She drew a picture of an owl because that’s what the monster looked like. She showed the picture to the monster and then flipped it around so no one else would get scared. The lights started to flicker and the monster started to chase her. She screamed! The lights turned off, and when they turned back on, the monster, skeletons and zombies were all gone!} The End.
By Zetta, Pranathi, Joe, Gael, Berger Park
David, the evil toaster was toasting just bread, but he burned him to a crisp, which made just bread ANGRY. So, just break uses his whole body to shove David into the bag of flour. David says no more fighting. Let’s be evil friends. Muahahaha! The End.
By Enani, Tyler, Kali, Aaron, Charlie, Carter, Jordin, Ridge Park
The Little Minion is at the beach drinking lemonade and orange juice. Then he dropped his glass and it broke on the beach. Lion steps on glass and gets really mad. Little minion runs away to a martial arts class to learn how to fight. He meets fire dragon in the city on his way back. A fight breaks out, they go to the hospital, and realize how silly to fight when we could just be friends. And they lived happily ever after. The End.
By Amari, Marayah, Amiyah, Hamilton Park
Heather, Danielle, and Bella are going to a party. They are in high school. They went to meet their friends. Their parents don’t know. They ask, they say no. They decide to sneak out. They have to jump out the 2nd story window. They land, but they forgot the dress. They go back up but the parents catch them. They are grounded and their phones are taken away. The next day they apologize and say that they’ll do all the chores for the next month. They go to another party. The End.
By Machenzie, Anthony, Symone, Nijeer, Faith, Chloe, Nevah, Brownlee, Austin Town Hall Park
One day Ariana Grande was on tour in Alabama. She was going to New York next, while she was there, she met a unicorn named Bella Que Pasa. They decided to go to Target to get fruit, Starbucks, and to look for boyfriends. While in line at Starbucks, a big, stinky, blehhh troll came up and took Ariana’s purse. Bella Que Pasa said “Ahh! Why did you take the purse?” Ariana Grande started singing “thank you, next” and ran after the troll and got her purse back and bought her and Bella Que Pasa Hubba Bubba, material girl pink drinks, and they lived happily ever after. The End.