An Evening of Shel Silverstein
2011 · Lincoln Land Community College
An ensemble poetry revue built entirely from the verse of Shel Silverstein, staged by the students of Ken Bradbury's Lincoln Land Community College theatre seminar. The cast of nine moved through a rapid sequence of Silverstein's best-loved short poems, each one given simple, playful blocking — boys to one side, girls to the other, performers darting out toward the audience, huddling, spitting, dying, and exploding back onto the floor as the verses called for it. Ken narrated the transitions between pieces, calling each new poem by name.
Faithful to Silverstein's mix of mischief and tenderness, the revue ran from broad comic bits like "For Sale" (one young sister for sale) and "My Hobby" (spitting from the twenty-sixth floor) to the quiet warmth of "The Little Boy and the Old Man" and the rueful "Ma and God." It was performed November 1, 2011, in Chapin (C'ville).
Sketches
The revue worked through these Shel Silverstein pieces in order:
- For Sale
- Sleeping Sardines
- Love
- My Hobby
- Deaf Donald
- The Union for Children's Rights
- One Two!
- Prayer of the Selfish Child
- Ma and God
- Jumping Rope
- The Battle
- The Little Boy and the Old Man
- Little Abigail and the Beautiful Pony
- Snowball
- Sick
Cast
- John
- Jackie
- Brittany
- Billie
- Erin
- Elisabeth
- Mallory
- Cody
- Peyton
Production Notes
A theatre seminar (Theatre 110) project directed by Ken Bradbury. The class met primarily at Triopia, traveling to other locations, and taught improv to elementary students alongside preparing performance pieces. This Silverstein revue was performed November 1, 2011, in Chapin. The working script lays out full cast assignments and blocking for each poem.