MY BROTHER
By Marquise M, Johnson
My brother
And me
Was playing
A
Game
And eat
Lunch
We ate a sandwich and drank milk
We Share a Room
My brother is my friend
This is our godbrother clubhouse
This is my mom room
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 Marquise M, Johnson
My brother
And me
Was playing
A
Game
And eat
Lunch
We ate a sandwich and drank milk
We Share a Room
My brother is my friend
This is our godbrother clubhouse
This is my mom room
By Dwayne W, Zeke, Roderick, North Lawndale
Setting: American Airlines Arena. Characters: Coach Zeke and Roderick.
C: Wow. My star player Dwayne Wade is injured. Who is going to replace him?
R: Me Coach. I promise I will play awesome out there.
C: Okay I trust you.
R: Yes! My first MBA game!
C: Oh wow you hit the 3 pointer to get us in the lead.
R: I told you!
The End.
Coach: Josh Dwayne Wade: Greg Roderick: Tailor Bibat Opponent: Geoff Rice
C: Wow. My star player Dwayne Wade is injured. Who is going to replace him?
R: Me Coach. I promise I will play awesome out there.
C: Okay I trust you.
R: Yes! My first MBA game! (Chariots of fire plays as ROderick “flies” into the air over opponent, assisted by Greg, makes the shot)
C: Oh wow you hit the 3 pointer to get us in the lead.
R: I told you!
(“flies” off)
The End.
By Isaiah G, Chalmers
This story is about a girl who was always picked on so she became a martial artist to defend the ones that get picked on too so she wins and wins and wins. She was 16-0 so then she goes against her toughest opponent yet. She fought and fought and then she gathered all of her strength and her last punch and she moved so fast it looked like she had lasers coming out of her hands. When she hit him, he flew into the crowd and won the championship and she retired. The End
By Jason, Tony, Rhiannon, Nina, Shengteng, Angela, Tina , Haines
I believe that there should be no violence in the world. Too many are being murdered in the world and people feel sad and devastated. About 4million people die every day in the world and we spend so much money trying to fix them instead we could be spending that money on curing diseases. People are scared and can’t live happy lives. In conclusion, if there were no violence, people would be happier. THE END.
By Ricardo, 5th Grade, Dewey Elementary
I still deserto donuts, cookies and sardeans hair styles and oysters. I like to steal deserts. I don’t like it when people eat sweet foods. It doesn’t diserve to be chewed that way. OK when someone keeps your game and tells you to destroy his friends and you will get them back. I live in a sewer filled with sweetness and a monkey as my buttler. I don’t have a job I’m poor and broke.
I steal desserts donuts, cookies and sardines hair styles and oysters. I like to steal desserts. I don’t like it when people eat sweet foods. It doesn’t deserve to be chewed that way. OK when someone keeps your game and tells you to destroy his friends and you will get them back. I live in a sewer filled with sweetness and a monkey as my butler. I don’t have a job I’m poor and broke. The End
By Brooke P, Poe Elementary
Once upon a time, there was a doctor named Dr. Stupid-Head. And Dr. Stupid-Head was checking out a patient. Her name was Kassi. Kassi hurt her brain. She says all the wrong answers such as “Hi, my name is Jenny.” So the surgery began. So the bread sat on the bread on top of the bread until the head was open. They took the brain away then he dropped it on the floor. Then he said: “Aw I don’t want to touch that.“So he put on his gloves and picked it up and put it on the table then he got the hammer and hit the brain until it is ready. Then he put it back in. Kassi was better. Then she went home. The End.
By Kejuan K, Learn Campbell
I broke my arm and I had eye balls all over my arm and it was horrible, horrible horrible. They had looked at me and I was scared! Next to that arm it was an octopus arm and I was shocked! And Laena had a BIG big big big eyeball on her face and she had a smelly and yucky eye ball and I said “Yucky yuck.” to Eddie had a pancake for his head and Shoau had a candy face. The End.
By Mariah A, Avondale Logondale Elementary
Lindsey was a refrigerator. She lived in a kitchen. She loved being opened by the little kids that lived in the house. But one day the family moved away! She was given away to charity. She was sad. She sat there in the same spot every day. Lindsey always looked at the other items being sold. The one day after six years, she saw the daughter of the family she belonged to. Anna, the daughter, had been looking for Lindsey as long as she could remember. And bought Lindsey and took her home. Anna had a family of her own and it brought Lindsey back so many memories that she couldn’t ask for anything else. THE END.
By Naomi D, Columbia Explorer's Academy
Once upon a time there was a boy named Jonny. He loved to play baseball. One day he got in trouble for wasting all the money on a baseball game. One day his mother called him down and said “Jonny.” He said “Yes.” She said “Go to the candy store and buy one of those big hearts that are made out of a pig.” Jonny hated eating that. His mom gave him the money. Jonny went to the candy store. When he looked out the window, he saw a baseball game. Jonny told the lady “Never mind.” So Jonny went to eh baseball game and wasted all of his money on it. Jonny thought: “Oh, no. The candy. Mom is going to be mad.” Jonny said that he could just tell her he got robbed. While Jonny was walking home, he saw a dead big. He told himself that he could just take out he the heart from the pig. So he did that. When he went home, he gave the heart to his mom. HE ran upstairs and went on his computer. He heard a voice say: “Jonny, give me back my heart.” He said: “Who is that?” Then, it said it again: “Jonny, give me back my heart.” His mother called him down for dinner. He didn’t want to eat. When Jonny went down to get orange juice, he saw everyone eating the heart. He was sick to his stomach. He went back upstairs and got ready to go to bed. In the middle of the night, he heard:
“Jonny, give me back my heart, I’m three blocks away from your house.”
“Jonny, give me back my heart, I’m two blocks away from your house.”
“Jonny, give me back my heart, I’m one block away from your house, I want my heart back.”
Jonny was really scared.
“Jonny, I’m on your house steps.”
“Jonny, I opened the door and now I’m walking up the stairs.”
“Jonny, I’m by your room door. I want my heart back.”
“Jonny, I’m by your bed, I have to tell you something…........
OINK….I want my heart back!”
To be continued.
By Jacari R, Taniya J, Nakiya B, Willa Cather Academy
We see toilet paper like a teddy bear. And we see little people bothering a chicken egg. We see little bumble bees stinging people. It is hot like the desert and sometimes cold- freezing and so hot at the same time. It changes quickly like our world when it used to be sunny. The sun on this planet is polka dot and orange. The chicken egg is cracking and the chicken inside might die unless a bee stings the little people. The End.