Taylor Kulju as Greta Van Susteren, Karl Numinen as Larry Raganesse, Hanna Numinen as Pookie Doublet, Tanner Parish as Dynamo Delgato and Nathan Morgan as Benny Petricelli. Photo by Riley Fields.

Taylor Kulju as Greta Van Susteren, Karl Numinen as Larry Raganesse, Hanna Numinen as Pookie Doublet, Tanner Parish as Dynamo Delgato and Nathan Morgan as Benny Petricelli. Photo by Riley Fields.

Pookie Goes Grenading

“Dig This: Close up on Pookie. She Is 14. She Is Awesome.”

In May 2019, Wolf’s Head Theater Company brought to the Ore Dock Brewing Company Pookie Goes Grenading by J.C Lee. Our story followed 14-year-old comic book hero/revolutionary/bad ass mofo Pookie as she stopped at nothing (and we do mean nothing) to put on her play- proving great art doesn’t come at a finite price. She gathered a rag-tag group of losers, including her high school counselor, to assist her. They laughed, they cried, they threw grenades. They learned to love. Cuz you can’t make art without he(art). Or fire.

Brian Cabell of Word on the Street asked “… Where does all this talent come from in a town of 20,000?” (Read the full review here)

Brenna Womer, a special to the Mining Journal, called Pookie a “… play (that) ultimately tackles themes of identity, creative passion, rejection, determination and absurdity. It’s campy, deadpan and self-aware, in the vein of films like ‘Scott Pilgrim vs. the World’ and ‘Hamlet 2,’ and all at once inspires joy, confusion, nostalgia and the impulse to create — to care deeply and passionately for something; to have a dream.” (Read the full review here)

Cast:

  • Pookie Doublet: Hanna Numinen

  • Dynamo Delgato: Tanner Parish

  • Benny Petricelli: Nathan Morgan

  • Greta Van Susteren: Taylor Kulju

  • Larry Raganesse: Karl Numinen

    • Special Appearance by Jessica “Red” Bays as Art Gonzalez and Anthony Reynolds as News Anchor

Production:

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JC Lee (Playwright)
JC writes for theater, film and television. Recent plays include Relevance (MCC, NYC), warplay (New Conservatory Theatre Center, SF) and Luce (Lincoln Center Theatre, NYC) for which he co-wrote the film adaptation starring Naomi Watts and Octavia Spencer. He's received commissions from the Old Globe, South Coast Repertory, Manhattan Theatre Club, Second Stage, the Playwright's Realm and New Conservatory Theatre Center.

His television credits include ABC's "How To Get Away With Murder," and both "Looking" and "Girls" on HBO, where he's developing a pilot based on "The Song Machine" by John Seabrook. He's currently working on the film adaptation of "The Nutcracker" for Warner Brothers with director Alfonso Gomez-Rejon and a pilot based on the life of Mistress Trinity, a professional dominatrix, for FX. His play What You Are will premiere in the Spring of 2019 at the Old Globe Theatre in San Diego. JC is a graduate of Bloomsburg University and The Juilliard School. He can be found online @jclee1230.