Review of Barrel of Monkeys' Matinee That's Weird, Grandma!

Once upon a time I went to a show, and it was called That's Weird, Grandma! And the company was called Barrel of Monkeys. When you go to that theater you feel like you're in a mouse hole because it is kind of small and cute. You kind of feel like you are a mouse if you are a kid. And all the kids feel really happy because it is cozy.

The play was a matinee. If you don't know what a matinee is, you can learn it from me--ADA GREY! A matinee is watching a play in the daytime instead of watching it at night. Ta da! The differences between the matinee and the nighttime plays are that behind us there was someone screaming and crying at the matinee, more kids were at the matinee, and when we got home we didn't have to brush teeth, read books, go to bed. Nighttime is not better for the kids, but it is for me because I am a reviewer. Why, do you ask? Because those kids can't stay up that late.

They do plays written by kids, and next year because I will be seven I can write a story for Barrel of Monkeys that they might turn into a play. Sometimes they are exactly like the kids told them and sometimes they are not. I am not going to talk about all of the stories because there are eighteen stories. I am going to start with my least favorites. My least favorite I think was "The Worried Dog" because there was a lot of potty humor. The dog wanted to use the human potty, and then the owner got mad at the dog. I don't like potty humor because I just feel like it is kind of gross. Only in some circumstances when it is funny. I didn't think it was funny in this--it was grosser. And there was another one called "Untitled (Beach)" and it was about the baddest rock singers in the world. When the mom fought Hannah Montana that was kind of cool. I did not like how she was so excited about all the rock singers that I don't like. I would have been excited about Pipettes, Steven Malkmus, and Le Tigre.

Here is one that I do like. It was about chocolate. It was called "I believe That Everything Needs to be Chocolate." I liked it because it was funny because there was this girl in the middle and she said "Chocolate" whispering; it sounded like she liked chocolate. And I agree that somethings need to be chocolate--but not just chocolate. They said you can eat your own house, but that is exactly what I don't want to do because then I wouldn't have any place to live. And my house is so tall that I couldn't eat my whole entire house; I would just have a chunk of house.

"Soft Hearted Stuntman" was a short one, and it was about people trying out for a movie with Soft Hearted Stuntman in it. The person that was trying out for it said, "I can do all the things those guys can do, and i can give a hug." I thought the scene was really loving and cute.

In "Moving Into the Hotel" there were these people that moved into a hotel, and they couldn't pay that much. So then they were asked to do some stuff in the kitchen, and they put all the things in the wrong place. They left the fire on. Then they heard that a program was on the tv, so they went up to their room and watched it. Then the hotel went on fire, and they said let's go to a different hotel that is less smoke-filled. It was funny because there was a fire and they didn't even notice that a fire was on and they were watching tv. They handed stuff to each other down the line like in Looney Toons.

In "I Think People Should Not Kiss," there were all these signs that were protesting kissing. I don't think at all that people should not kiss, but I liked it anyway. There were people that had signs, and one of the people who was in the show was saying about how people should not kiss, and then someone kissed one of the actors. Then she changed her sign to not protesting kissing because she actually loved kissing.

I liked when I got to press the button this time. Before the show has to start someone has to press a button. It was my first time pressing the button. It was really fun. I got to press it with another girl. That was so great; I was like, "Wow, I get to press the button!"

I think people that would like this show would be people that like kids and they also like short stories that were written by kids. Kids themselves would love it. It is fun and cool. It is cool but not cold. When you go there you should expect some protesting and some fire and a change of stories every week. It is much better than just seeing the same ones because then you can see different stories each week. It was so great because they had great kids write the stories, and they also had grownups that really knew how to act to act them out.

Photos: Dean Ponce