“I wish I had a monster that would eat my whole family so we could go on adventures instead of going to bed,” said Evan, Act 1, played by Jake Daily.
On Friday, May 29, Eastern Michigan University’s Theatre put on an original and hilarious play called “The Boy Who Loved Monsters and the Girl Who Loved Peas” at the Sponberg Theater on EMU’s campus.
This new work is about a little boy named Evan who wishes for a monster to come and eat his family. Evan learns that you should be careful what you wish for because it might come true.
In this heart-gripping, hilarious tale Evan learns the importance of sharing, friendship, and family bonding.
I really enjoyed the performance of Tyler Calhoun who played daddy. I admired his boisterous tone of voice, how he was very mindful of the characters he played and his body in relation to the audience.
“This show is my favorite one to do out of all of the shows I’ve done so far, because it’s so silly and so fun,” said Colleen Cartwright, who played Pea, the monster in the show.
The audience gave high praise at the end of the show, giving the cast a standing ovation, the children bouncing around yelling, “I really liked the show.”
Keith Mims, the assistant director, said, “It was such a positive environment to work in, the cast really meshed well together and the director, Patricia, was very good with letting me express my ideas and giving me creative freedom.”
The set was also impressive. It had a very futuristic feel and they did a lot with the small amount of stage space they had.
“The set is what brought it all together for me. When the actors finally got on set they really got into their character roles,” said Mims.
The lighting and sound effects were always on queue with the actors’ voices and actions and it really added dimension to the performance.
If you have time then you should go support this EMU Theatre production because it’s uplifting and hilarious and reminds you that you should never stop dreaming no matter how old you get. Upcoming performances of the show will be held at the Sponberg Theater on June 5-7.