Review of Barrel of Monkey's That's Weird, Abuelita

Once upon a time I went to a show and it was called, That's Weird, Abuelita. This show was in Spanish, English, and also mimed. You will enjoy this show if you know Spanish, English, or neither of them. I think people will like the show because it is really funny. I think the Barrel of Monkeys respect children in a way that helps them learn how to write plays and get into a theater world. It is one of my favorite theater companies because they do stories that are funny and they don't just say "Oh, I did such a great job with this." They thank the kids for helping them do such a good performance.

There was one short little play called "The Big Bully." It was about people in court trying to figure out who the big bully was. So, the beginning was an Ant running with an enormous peanut, and then everybody has to find out who made the Ant trip, and they find out who made the Ant trip, and the person who made the Ant fall is...the Ant. Not directly, because he stole the peanut from the human and that causes a series of unfortunate events. I liked it because I thought it was creative that they thought about different things that happened in different seasons and put them all in the same place at the same time. I liked how they had a human, because it is kind of funny to think of a human talking to a balloon or an ant. It is kind of like Why Mosquitoes Buzz in People's Ears or Because a Little Bug Went Ka-choo because it was a series of disasters. Sometimes they can be funny disasters, like a giant peanut being lost. Sometimes they can be terrible disasters, like baby owls falling out of nests and dying. I prefer the funny disasters, not the sad disasters, so that's why I like this better than Why Mosquitoes Buzz in People's Ears.

I liked "Me and My Cat at Six Flags" because it was fuhlarious. So, the cat and the girl go to Six Flags and go on the roller coaster. Everybody is screaming except for the cat. The cat is not screaming at all; he's going side to back to forward. He has a very serious expression, like, the is the most boring ride ever. They usually do this in That's Weird, Grandma too. Abuelita means grandma in Spanish. It was the exact same scene except that when the people came to look at the cat, some of them were saying Spanish words.

One of my favorite pieces was called "Untitled/Rite in Space." It was about this magician who accidentally sent a girl into space. Then you could hear her voice from backstage going, "Help me." Then another guy said, "Do it to me now," and he kept doing funny things, just being there in a meditating position or a ballet position. You expect him to be gone, but he is still there every time. I liked this because I thought it was really funny and it mostly didn't have words.

I think "The Grandpa Who Makes Piñatas" was really funny because Oscar went up and down with his feet and his arms; basically his whole body was going up and down. I thought it was cool that they used cardboard word bubbles because it was like it was a comic book. The grandpa came in and gave Oscar the scissors and the cat got a haircut. Then the cat took the scissors and gave Oscar a haircut. I thought it was kinda funny for a cat to give a human a haircut.

I thought "The Bad Dancer" was really good because in "The Bad Dancer" three girls went up in the ballet class and then they did some dancing to a very slow song which was very easy. And then two boys and the bad dancer went up, and they changed the music to the Russian dance from the Nutcracker. And then the boys were doing it, and then she decided to go along, but she didn't go along at all. She punched people in the nose and in the face and in the eye while we she was dancing. I kind of like slapstick sometimes. I don't like people dying and then that's funny; I kind of think it is funny when people are not actually getting hurt but it looks like it. That character was really a bad dancer. Not the actual actress. I have never seen her dance, but I suspect that she is not actually a terrible dancer.

"El Oso y el Fantasma" was a little confusing to me because I am not very good at Spanish. I thought the ghost and the bear were friends, but their friendship was kind of ending, so the bear wanted to eat cake with him. But then he got so angry and threw the honey at him. I am right about the honey, but I am not right about the friends. They are actually enemies. Then I read the actual story and they are actually enemies. You should read the script first in whatever your first language is, so then you will understand everything better. Like if you want to know why women in France just wear bottoms at the beach. You might not really understand it at first, but then you do understand it later because they are a different culture. Sometimes it is fun figuring out a mystery in a play or on a vacation. If you want it to be a mystery, you should not read it first. I didn't know that this piece was going to be a mystery, but then I solved it and it was fun.

I think this show should be for ages 2 and up because Barrel of Monkeys is for all ages. It shouldn't be for under 2 because of "I Believe it is Disgusting." In that they talk about how they hate diapers and kids like one-year-olds really love diapers. Then all the one-year-olds that came to see it will all gang up on those actors and have a baby fight, which is a poke, which doesn't hurt very much at all. Then all the actors would get scratched with baby scratches. So I would play it safe. If you did take a one-year-old to this show, then their feelings would be hurt because they say, "I believe we should not have babies."

People who would like this show are people who like monkeys, being sent into space, and Six Flags. People should see this show because it is fuhlarious and it is for people who know Spanish and English. And people who just know English can learn Spanish and vice versa.