PlayMaker's Laboratory Celebrates MLK Day, Black History Month, Valentine's Day, Presidents Day and More

PlayMakers Laboratory will welcome 2021 with all new performances of its popular online revue That's Weird, Grandma: House Par-Tay, celebrating Black History Month, Valentine's Day, Presidents Day, and more. The creative series of stories written by elementary school students, adapted and performed by PML's professional actors and directed by Artistic Director Brandon Cloyd, streams Mondays at 8 pm CST from January 18 - February 22, 2021 via Patreon. Tickets ($2 - $4 subscriptions) are currently available at playmakerslab.org.

PML is also pleased to present a special Media Lab Monday dedicated to Martin Luther King Jr. Day on Monday, January 18, 2021. PML's weekly Media Lab Mondays typically focus on interactive writing exercises. On MLK Day, the session will focus on speech writing using MLK's "I Have A Dream" speech as a template. The program includes an introduction to MLK, a guided writing portion and performances from PML's teaching artists featuring their own dream speeches. The session, recommended for ages 8 - 11, will stream at 12:30 pm CST via PML's Facebook page at facebook.com/playmakerslab, with sessions in both English and Spanish.

Now in its 20th year, That's Weird, Grandma features adaptations of stories written during PlayMakers Laboratory's creative writing residencies in Chicago elementary schools. PML's ensemble of professional actors, comedians and musicians bring the young authors' stories to life as raucous sketches, songs and movement pieces, performing first for students in their schools and then for the public. These stories - from hilarious dialogues between unlikely characters to poignant pleas for social change - resonate with adults while celebrating the imaginations of young people.

That's Weird, Grandma Performance Schedule

Monday, January 18 - That's Weird, Grandma: House Par-Tay: January Pt. 1

Monday, January 25 - That's Weird, Grandma: House Par-Tay: January Pt. 2

Monday, February 6 - That's Weird, Grandma: House Par-Tay: Black History Month Show Pt. 1

Monday, February 15 - That's Weird, Grandma: House Par-Tay: Presidents Days Show

Monday, February 22 - That's Weird, Grandma: House Par-Tay: Black History Month Show Pt. 2

That's Weird, Grandma: House Par-Tay includes stories from PML's "Submit Your Story Challenge," which encourages students from across the nation to submit stories from home during the COVID-19 pandemic. For more information, visit playmakerslab.org/education.

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