Long-time members of the Penguin Project of McLean County are returning to new roles as part of the organization’s debut community theater program for adults aged 22 and above with disabilities.
Night of the Macabre opens at 7 p.m. Friday at the Astroth Community Education Center auditorium at Heartland Community College in Normal with a pay-what-you-can performance. Additional shows set are set for 7 p.m. Saturday and 2 p.m. Sunday.
Jackie Gunderson, executive director of McLean County's Penguin Project, is serving as creative director of the show. Gunderson said the production, authored by Tracy Wells, is an accessible dip into the horror genre. It’s similar to the movie Night at the Museum, but “a little bit spooky.”
“It’s a straight play — not a musical, which is a little different than what we do in our traditional program. And it’s a gothic horror literature-themed play,” said Gunderson. “Each exhibit demonstrates a different work of gothic horror literature as they go through the museum.”
The production includes 23 cast members. Gunderson said about 20 have appeared in Penguin Project shows before.
Penguin Players, the adult program with Penguin Project of McLean County, includes mentors along with artists in its casting, she said. That’s diverged away from their usual model of holding one-to-one mentorships that guide members from the week after auditions all the way through the show weekend.
“We have a unified cast in this production, which is very different from our traditional program,” said Gunderson. “We were very thoughtful and intentional about spreading the mentors out so that the individuals that needed different types of support had someone nearby, but also encouraging our artists that are more independent or are able to support each other.”
Gunderson said they really wanted to embrace how adults with disabilities deserve to be treated with respect and not be infantilized. That includes allowing them to believe that they’re able to support themselves and each other, to build independence and self-confidence and “to be a contributor to the team sport that is theater,” she continued.
The show follows four friends who embark on a hunt for horror in the museum, encountering several wax figurines who come to life. Among those four is Daniel Johnson of Bloomington, playing as Rory.
“Rory is a scaredy cat … He gets scared all the time, so when something pops up in front of him, he will jump,” said Johnson.
Preparing for the show took a lot of effort, he said, because being scared all the time is not easy.
“I don’t get scared that easily, so being scared on stage makes it a little different than me getting scared in real life,” Johnson said.
Getting ‘Goosebumps’ in theater
Johnson, 25, is among a cohort of a dozen players who aged out of Penguin Project’s traditional youth program and have returned — Johnson himself just performed in the June production, Addams Family. Gunderson said the timing of the Penguin Player’s expansion was perfect for him as he almost had no gap.
“It was really special to be able to welcome some of them back and see them really blossom again in their self-confidence, in their friendships, in their communication skills and of course in their acting skills as well,” Gunderson said.
Typically, she said Penguin Project will do junior versions of Broadway musicals because of time and content. When building an adult-only program, Gunderson said they wanted to have more mature content, but also be careful about not going too far down the horror rabbit hole.
She rated Night of the Macarbe as a PG-13 show: It’s spooky — but not jump scare spooky.
When they picked the show, she said she looked back to the Goosebumps series of children’s horror literature, which was really popular when she was a child.
“Goosebumps were basically my first step into that genre. This show kind of feels like that from a theater perspective. It's an accessible step into horror without being too scary,” said Gunderson.
Other players in the show include former artists or mentors who aged out and returned as staff members. Andrew Parkin of Bloomington said he did nine previous Penguin Project shows, including Alice in Wonderland.
In Night of the Macabre, Parkin said he plays Alymer from The Birthmark by Nathaniel Hawthorne. He said his character becomes a “mad scientist” because he’s obsessed with a birthmark his wife has.
“In his words, [she] is so overwhelmingly beautiful,” said Parkin.
Alymer is so fixated on the one part of his wife that’s “not perfect,” he said his character becomes “quite mad, creates this potion and tries to fix her when there is nothing to be fixed. And it ends up being the downfall.
"Then he’s like, ‘What have I done?’”
Parkin, who is 30, said getting to play so many different things is what keeps him coming back to Penguin Players. He said acting with the friends he’s made in the traditional program is a great time.
That’s a sentiment shared by Nikki Griffin. The 24-year-old from Bloomington said he plays Quinn, one of the four friends who explore the museum.
Griffin said Quinn is really sarcastic and “so annoyed with everyone.”
“Honestly, like I see myself sometimes as him, so I think that's kind of cool. So … I can just be myself, but also be portrayed as this character,” Griffin said.
What’s next
At Penguin Project, Gunderson noted they always say penguins may not be able to fly, but that doesn’t prevent their spirits from soaring.
She said many supports for people with disabilities end at the age of 22. As a former special educator, Gunderson said that weighed heavily on her.
“Some of the returning participants, they've been gone many years, and I know that through talking with some of them and some of their parents, a lot of them have not found what they have at Penguin Project in other organizations or activities,” she said.
While putting on a good show is important to her, she said it’s more valuable to her to show others that when given the right supports, their participants are just as capable as anyone else.
Gunderson said she’s has special photos of some friendships that have extended beyond the stage. When they’ve experienced success in one avenue, like Penguin Project, she said their players often take that to build their talents in other areas — including getting a job, starting a different recreational activity or performing at another theater.
Penguin Project’s mission is to create unrestricted access to the performing arts. Gunderson said that includes both the performer and audience experience, and that work continues through its Unrestricted Access Committee. She added that people with disabilities can also contribute to their strategic initiatives through boards, staff, backstage and other roles.
Gunderson said next year, Penguin Project will probably shift its schedule to the fall with an autumn-themed Madrigals. She noted that’s very traditional performance art.
“We always are looking for whimsy and delight in Penguin Project,” said Gunderson.
Afterwards, she said their hope is to shift their Penguin Players to working after the holidays.
No matter what show they produce, Gunderson said they guarantee attendees will witness a heartwarming celebration of the human spirit.
“I promise that if you come to a Penguin Project show, you will leave with a smile on your face, and that doesn't matter which show it is,” she said.
Night of the Macabre will open at 7 p.m. Friday at the Astroth Community Education Center, 1500 W Raab Rd, Normal, for a pay-what-you-can performance. Two additional shows are scheduled for 7 p.m. Saturday and 2 p.m. Sunday. Each show is 2 hours long. Tickets costing $10 each are required for the two latter shows and are available online at penguinprojectmclean.org.
