Skip to main content

Kevin Broccoli's Giant People Monologue Crazy Project

Since I'm about halfway through the project, I guess I'm not tempting the gods too much if I make an official announcement.

In addition to my "nice" project, I've been working on something a little more theatrical.

I've been wanting to find a way to create the quintessential monologue show. All the shows have been incredible experiences for me, but I wanted to find a way to put together something that would really say--"This is what this is about."

Of course, once I set out to do that, I realized that defining the monologue shows would be the same thing as defining myself as a writer. This proved to be pretty difficult.

Then, during the sex show, when we almost had one hundred performers over the course of the run, I realized that was what I needed to create my Big Monologue Experience.

One hundred people doing a show about...well...people.

The biggest thrill I've gotten while doing these shows is getting to work with so many amazing people. Even though I've been in plays since third grade, I still get that feeling when I don't get cast in something or asked to participate.

It feels like a group of kids on the playground saying they don't want to play with me. So it's been awesome to create an experience where nobody has to feel that way. Everyone that wants to play can play.

Still, I hear the same things from people:

When are you going to write a full-length play?
What are these shows anyway?
When are you going to do something else?

In response to the last question, I usually say--"Bless your heart."

But I can understand why people are wondering what this is all leading up to. I was wondering myself until a few months ago.

Seeing how excited everyone was over having so many people involved in one project, I knew I could make it happen--so here it is.

One Hundred People.

Ten separate shows with different themes.

The following have already been written:

Naked People.
City People.
Famous People.
Straight People.
Short People

I'm nearly done with Rich People, and then I'll have four more shows to go, including Imaginary People and Dead People.

All the characters on any given night are strongly connected, but all one hundred characters have loose connections to each other.

To me, this is my version of a full-length that doesn't completely abandon the monologues, because honestly, I like writing them, and I'm not ready to be done with them yet.

Maybe after this project, I will be.

Once the tenth show is completed, I'll start looking for opportunities to produce the shows either one after another, or in clusters. Hopefully I'll get to do some sort of marathon showing, because you know I love some epic theater.

This is really just a celebration of community and it's a thank you to everyone I've worked with so far. It's also in many ways a love letter to Rhode Island. All the pieces take place within the state. I just feel like it's time more people started to say, "Yeah, this is where I'm from, I'm proud of it, and it reflects in my work." I'm not going to write a play set in New York and search for Boston actors to perform it just to make myself look more metropolitan. I'm going to use what I got, because what I got is local talent, and it's pretty damn impressive.

I'm hoping to get one hundred different performers to participate in this, but since the pieces are pre-written, I'm going to come looking for you, so don't worry about letting me know that you're interested in participating. I'm sure by the time I'm done, I'm going to have worked with everybody that wants to take part.

I'm hoping that in addition to performing with a large group of people, I want to perform these pieces at different locations across the state. I think each of the shows offers something different for everyone. The monologues featuring Gabriel the janitor have gotten a great response, and people already seem to be excited about the prospect of a show dealing with nudity.

All that excitement is exactly what I was hoping for, and it really helps me to continue with the writing and start thinking about putting these shows up.

I hope once it's all on the page, you'll want to help me bring them to the stage.

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

A List of People Who Can Go to Hell Now That I Can't Have Elizabeth Warren

So today was a rough day for everybody who isn't a @#$%-ing #$%hole. Let's just start there. If that upsets you, by all means, go straight to hell. This entire rant is going to be exactly what it sounds like. I am mad and I am going to exercise my right to BLOG ABOUT IT LIKE IT'S 1995, SO BUCKLE UP, BUTTERCUP. I really don't even know where to start, so let's just jump right in with the first person who comes to mind. Bloomberg, go to hell.  You really didn't have anything specific to do with today, but you can just go to hell for spending an ungodly amount of money on literally nothing.  I mean, you could have lit millions of dollars on fire and at least warmed the hands of the homeless, but instead, you made tv stations across the country that are already owned by Conservatives rich, so kudos to you and go to hell. Amy Klobuchar, I STUCK UP FOR YOU AMY.  I got into FIGHTS on SOCIAL MEDIA while DEFENDING your sorry, self-interested ass.  You know

Theater and the Outbreak

After last week's interview, a representative from a theater that recently experienced the results of opening too soon reached out to speak with me. I want to thank this person for coming forward in the hopes that it'll change some minds about what's safe and what isn't when it comes to the performing arts. Here's the interview: ME:  So this wasn't a full production or-- THEM:  No. It was us trying to do a little something for friends and donors. ME:  Who is 'us?' THEM:  The board of _____. ME:  And how long have you been on the board? THEM:  Three years. ME:  What was this going to be? THEM:  There's a, uh, beautiful park here in town, and we wanted to do an outdoor performance of a Shakespeare as a benefit, because, as you know, theaters are having a hard time right now paying the bills. We checked with the local government and the health department for the state to make sure we were doing everything the way we needed to in order to keep everyone s

People You Know Are More Important Than People You Don't Know

This post is in response to arguing with people--straight and gay alike--about a certain celebrity, whether or not she's an ally, if she's pandering, if pandering matters, and whether or not I'm an asshole. The last part is probably an enthusiastic "Yes" but let's reflect on this for a bit anyway without actually giving more time to an argument about a person none of us know, which is a crucial part of what I want to talk about. People you know are more important than people you don't know. I realize it's tricky in an age where we've never been closer or more engaged to our celebrities to keep in mind that we do not know them, they are not our friends, and while we may love them and stan and feel like we're attacked when they're attacked-- That is not true. That is not real. They are in no tangible way connected to us. Now, as someone who is obsessed with pop culture, I get that it's a little hypocritical for me to be making