Comedy/ 6 characters, 3 men, 3 women/ One Act

Synopsis: Punk Grandpa is a modern-day Auntie Mame with the genders switched. It’s all about being different, being yourself, and the value of the grandparent/grandchild relationship.

The story takes place one magical weekend when 8-and-3/4-years old Laura stays over with her grandparents. She’s a misfit and very serious young lady. Grandpa is an uninhibited prankster with a . . . unique sense of humor. Together, they’re an irresistible duo.

Using storytelling, dance, music, a little bit of puppetry, and vintage family movies and photos to tell its tale, Punk Grandpa also touches on the topics of enduring love, the joys of Big Band jazz and how to style your life after it, and — as Laura later remembers Grandpa’s final years — Alzheimer’s. (It’s been presented as a fund-raiser for various Alzheimer’s associations.)

As Grandpa likes to say, it’ll put hair on your chest.

From Theatre Is Easy, NYC: “As in love and memory, Punk Grandpa magnifies and celebrates the little moments with those we cherish, honoring the idiosyncrasies that define a person and the relationships that define our lives.”

Punk Grandpa received the Sold Out Show and Hangover Awards at the 2016 Frigid New York Festival, bringing it back for an additional performance. Performing it in the original one-person play version, playwright Laura Scruggs won the Outstanding Performance in a Solo Show Award at the 2015 Planet Connections Theatre Festivity in New York.

“For a young girl, even a seemingly innocuous trip to the bank is a magically wondrous adventure when mixed with a grandfather’s bawdy humor and complete lack of filter.” – My Entertainment World/My Theatre, NYC

 

Contact information:
Amateur and professional rights:
LaurA! Force Scruggs
laura.e.scruggs@gmail.com
Ph: 773-905-9103

About the Playwright: LaurA! Force Scruggs was a Playwright in Residence at Three Cat Productions in Chicago, and Resident Playwright in 2021 and 2023 for Write On, Door County in Wisconsin. She has her B.S. in Elementary Education, with a Jr. High/Middle School Theatre endorsement and M.A. in Communication, Media and Theatre. She taught theatre for about 10 years (ages 18 months to senior citizens) in a variety of environments, and sometimes teaches kids how to be fairies.

Punk Grandpa has been produced at over 30 venues, in cities including Chicago, Orlando, New York, Adelaide, Tampa, and Los Angeles. Laura also produced and directed Uncle Fun: You’re The One, a documentary about the late Chicago toy store, Uncle Fun, and its creator, Ted Frankel, which has been featured at several festivals and has won numerous awards. She loves playing with her nieces and nephews, thrift shopping, reading, exploring, and creative reuse centers. 

Punk Grandpa was first produced at the Chicago Fringe Festival, Chicago, Illinois, in August 2013.

“I loved ‘Punk Grandpa’ . . . . Sweetly honest and heartrending.” – NoHo Arts District, L.A

“While its psychedelic trappings and goofy humor delight, it’s Punk Grandpa’s honest simplicity which gives the play its real beauty.” – Theatre Is Easy, NYC