Children Authors Are The Stars of The Show

By Betsy Mikel in Arts & Entertainment on Jun 8, 2010 5:20PM

All great plays start with great playwrights, and That's Weird, Grandma! is no exception. This weekly showcase performance adapts work of Chicago Public School students. That's Weird, Grandma! has been running since 2001, and its actors have hundreds of kids to thank for providing them with an endless source of creative and entertaining material.

Barrel of Monkeys, the arts and education theater ensemble that leads creative workshop for CPS students, then weaves their work into the That's Weird, Grandma! performance, is celebrating its authors tonight. The 75-minute show incorporates 30 Barrel of Monkeys actors and student work that has never been performed. Barrel of Monkeys is inviting the students as well as their classmates, teachers and families to see their work performed on stage for the first time. And tonight's free performance is open to the general public as well, so all audience members will have the opportunity to meet those who inspired and wrote material for tonight's performance.

Barrel of Monkeys is celebrating its 12th year of working with underserved CPS kids. The ensemble uses creative drama and writing exercises to inspire the kids' imaginations and adapts the student work for professional performance. Both the workshops and the performances are important to the Barrel of Monkeys' mission. By bringing students' work to life on stage, Barrel of Monkeys is validating their creativity, self-expression and writing. Over the past 12 years, Barrel of Monkeys has adapted everything from "The Snowman from Pluto" to "Where's God When You Need Him?"

Celebration of Authors 2010, Tonight, June 8, 7:00 p.m., Harold Washington Cultural Center, 4701 Martin Luther King Drive, free, tickets via TicketLeap