I Am Grock
by Amanda Rogers

Winner of the 11/12 Reva Shiner Comedy Award

The world-premiere of this brutally honest family comedy

Dec. 2, 3, 8 – 10 & 15 – 17 at 8pm

Bloomington Playwrights Project
107 W. 9th St.
812.334.1188

$18 General Admission
$15 Students/Seniors
available at BCT Box Office
114 E Kirkwood Ave.
812.323.3020
11am - 6pm M - F
and 12 - 5pm Sat/Sun

Sponsored by Reva Shiner

Opening Night Reception
Friday, December 2
7pm – 8pm
featuring complimentary hors deuvres, Oliver wine and comedic music by Kevin MacDowell

I Am Grock
by Amanda Rogers

Winner of the 11/12 Reva Shiner Comedy Award

The Bloomington Playwrights Project is happy to announce the professional debut production of a brutally honest family comedy, I Am Grock by Amanda Rogers, winner of the 11/12 Reva Shiner Comedy Award.

Therapist Phoebe Broman lands the interview of a lifetime promoting her new book, Brutal Honesty. Trouble is, her own insanely dysfunctional family arrives unexpectedly one hour before the interview. Her reputation and career at stake, Phoebe goes guerilla, holding her family hostage at gunpoint and demanding absolute honesty. In a surreal group “therapy” session filled with mimes, revelations about grandma’s sex life, and genetically engineered super-children, Phoebe learns that although the truth might set you free, it can be one wild and crazy ride getting there.

The play has been extensively workshopped over the past few years and even received a prominent staged reading, directed by How I Met Your Mother star Neil Patrick Harris, in Los Angeles in 2007.  Needless to say, this show has primed and it’s ready for its world-premiere debut here at the BPP.

Emily Goodson stars as Phoebe Broman in I Am Grock
Photo: Ivona Hedin

Tom Evans returns to the BPP after last year’s hit Artifice to direct I Am Grock, another ensemble comedy.  He leads a talented cast of BPP regulars and newcomers including Emily Goodson, Frank Buczolich, Margot Morgan, Kate Braun, Austin Rawlings, Jeffery Allen, Stephanie Cohen, & Nan Macy.  Featuring ambitious, contemporary set design by resident scenic artist Shane Cinal and light design by Tilman Piedmont, I Am Grock will be the crowd-pleasing production of the BPP’s 11/12 Season.

Now in its 19th year, the Reva Shiner Comedy Award is a staple among comedy playwriting professionals world-wide.  The BPP receives over 200 submissions from all around the globe each year.  The winner receives a cash prize and a full production in the BPP season.  We don’t just pick a funny one… we pick the funniest!

The BPP's 2011/2012 Season is sponsored by Holiday Inn, Indiana Arts Commission, Oliver Winery & World Arts Inc., Bloom Magazine & Papa John’s Pizza.


Amanda Rogers (Playwright) wrote, directed and produced the PBS documentary, Behind the Scenes with Groucho which is currently airing nationally. Her recently optioned screenplay Finn was recently performed as a staged reading, starring Academy Award-winner Hilary Swank. In the theatre, Amanda directed and co-wrote, By George, a play about the Pulitzer Prize-winning playwright, George S. Kaufman, which premiered at Philadelphia’s historic Walnut Street Theatre. She directed the critically acclaimed Naked on Broadway which also debuted at the Walnut. Amanda has received critical acclaim as a writer/director for the long-running European cirque/cabaret Teatro Zinzanni, based in San Francisco and Seattle. Amanda is a graduate of Northwestern University’s School of Theatre and the National Theatre Institute at the Eugene O’Neill Theatre Center.  Amanda also has extensive credits as an actress in film and television. She’s been seen in Batman Returns, Reality Bites, ER, American Tragedy, etc. Her credits also include performances in theatres across the country including New York’s Roundabout Theatre, Philadelphia’s Walnut Street Theatre, Westport Country Playhouse, Pasadena Playhouse, etc. as well as national tours of  “Groucho: A Life in Revue” and “Plaza Suite.”

Tom Evans (Director) is proud to return to the BPP after directing last year’s Reva Shiner Comedy winner, Artifice.  The most notable artistic venue where Tom has worked was New York’s celebrated Circle Repertory Theatre.  In the fall of 1980 he directed The Diviners there.  That play was written by Jim Leonard (a founder of BPP) while he was Tom’s student at Hanover College.  Under Tom’s guidance Lanford Wilson became a huge influence for Jim concerning ways to construct a modern play.  In a rare and delightful coincidence, Lanford Wilson, a founder of Circle Rep, served as dramaturge for the New York production.  A couple of seasons back, when Tom staged Lanford’s Talley’s Folly for BPP, the playwright provided an “Author’s Note” for the program: “I'm thrilled to hear that Tom will be directing my play.  It was great fun hanging out with Jim and Tom and the Diviners cast--lord, how many years ago?   A time I look back on very fondly!  And Tom worked such a magical spell on The Diviners--his is a talent and sensitivity I'll be happy to take advantage of for Talley's Folly.” When it comes to having your directing work reviewed, well, it just doesn’t get any better than such praise from Lanford Wilson, one of America’s premier playwrights!