Born out of a silly idea of having very emotional moments with inanimate objects on stage, I wrote and performed my very first solo show, The Good, the Bad, and the Monkey in 2009. I was fortunate enough to have the very talented, Jen Ellison direct me in this endeavor. I previewed it on the west coast–in the supportive and friendly theaters that are like second-homes to me: The Upfront in Bellingham, WA, the Brody in Portland, OR, and of course, Unexpected Productions in Seattle. A few months later, I had a successful (read: I didn’t lose tons of money and people really seemed to like it) run in Chicago. I took it to more cities after that (Philadelphia, Austin, TX, and my hometown, Louisville, KY), then back to Chicago for a couple more runs.
Here is that show in its entirety. As an artist, posting a recording of a live performance is never completely easy or comfortable. Watching it on a screen is a different experience than in the theater. Yet, now as I begin working on the staging of my next one-woman show (directed again, by Ms. Ellison), posting a recording of my first one seems right. It’s good to completely close a chapter before delving into the next.
[vimeo http://www.vimeo.com/37088640 w=500&h=281]
The Good, The Bad, and The Monkey
Singlehood, Dating, and the Search for Something Real
Amanda Rountree takes a hilarious–and at times, heartbreaking–look at the cycles of relationships and the myths that we tell ourselves about finding a soul mate…..using sock monkeys.
Special thanks to Fuzzy Gerdes for filming the performance!