Devised and written by: Madison Boan, Nathaniel Fishburn, John Francis Klingle, Danielle Levsky, and Nati Via

With collaboration from: Felix Abidor, Gunner Bradley, Paul Brennan, and Wesley Schilling

“The Outlaws of Bremen” reimagines the Grimm fairy tale story of two opposing groups of animals. The farm animals—a donkey, dog, cat, and rooster— leave their home for a better life after realizing what will become of them once they outlive their usefulness. Meanwhile, out in the woods, a pack of wolves claims an abandoned shack as their new home, sheltering from their ever-encroaching human persecutors. The farm animals soon need shelter desperately, and upon discovering the very same shack, decide to take it for themselves. Soon things come to a head as both groups struggle to claim the shack as their own. Is one of them more deserving? Or are they more alike than they think?

Grimm Without Grimm came about as a merger between members of the fringe sketch comedy ensemble Uploose Odditorium and the neo-commedia collective The Conspirators, in the mutual interest of exploring social justice issues and literary themes through comedy. Then, just as we were getting started, coronavirus hit society like a ton of bricks. Faced with reimagining not only a classic fairy tale but ALSO our very devising process, we discovered ways to develop our new play through digital collaboration.

Over the span of three months, we conducted movement sessions, improvised games, and writing circles all through video chat to bring this play to life. Our hope is to eventually bring THE OUTLAWS OF BREMEN to the stage once it is safe enough for us to do so. For now, it exists as a Zoom physical theatre play.