Welcome Brothers! You have entered the hallowed halls of a Spanish Benedictine monastery where two of your fellow Brothers await you. They have a lovely day planned for you; it’s not every day they receive visitors, you know!
Created and performed by Annie Luján and Veronica Hortigüela, MONKS is a journey into the chaotic, filled with lentils, a nasty storm, and a very kind donkey. Every performance is a unique experience, with plenty of audience participation and improv abounding, it’s impossible to see the exact same show twice. MONKS is as heartwarming as it is hilarious; it comes as little surprise that audiences return to the monastery time and time again.
Photo by Jae Yang
MONKS chronicles a very special day in the lives of these two monks, as they are having visitors come to their monastery for the first time in five years. They’ve got a whole day of doing nothing planned: watching the donkey graze, remark about the clouds as they pass by, and just being with one another. But before we can do nothing, we must help them complete some of their daily chores, which chiefly consists of counting lentils. But when things begin to go awry, the day’s relaxation seems less likely to occur.
Personally, this is my third time seeing and reviewing MONKS: I reviewed it for Intermission Magazine at the 2024 Toronto Fringe Festival (they were actually in Tarragon’s Studio space for this run), then again when they remounted it at The Theatre Centre in 2025, and now it’s back at Tarragon Theatre for another run of wild and wacky shows. Even though I’ve seen it before, MONKS perpetually feels new and fun, because so much of it depends on the audience and their willingness to participate with Luján and Hortigüela. This is the magic of MONKS: it’s the way Luján and Hortigüelan interact with their audiences, with each other, and all the while embodying these delightful characters. Their improvisation skills are top notch, on top of creating a genuinely funny and moving play.
Photo by Jae Yang
Tarragon went all out on their opening night, with even the folks scanning your tickets at the door donning the same hilarious wigs which Luján and Hortigüela wear throughout the show. This is another thing I love about having seen this production in different venues, is how the production is able to level up each time it’s staged. From the very simple Fringe set up, to a more elaborate walk-through into the theatre for this run, MONKS is able to outdo itself with each new iteration.
Photo by Jae Yang
Luján and Hortigüela are absolutely brilliant, bringing their whole selves to every moment of this show. I can’t fathom the amount of energy and stamina it must take to perform MONKS; they use every inch of the space, running up and down the aisle more times than I could count, all for the laughter of the audience. Seeing their genuine selves at the end of the play deeply grounds the work and leaves us with a sense of community, belonging, and connection which we feel long after we leave the theatre.
Photo by Jae Yang
The Brothers lament that we didn’t get to do nothing together like they’d hoped, that we didn’t get to spend the quality time that they had planned for. Yet to me, any time spent in the company of those you love is quality time. I used to love running errands with my best friend back home, because we could still chat while doing the groceries or folding laundry. Sure, doing nothing is awesome, especially when the world outside feels like it’s forcing us to do so much all the time. But to me, the time we spend with the Brothers, as hectic and hysterical as it may be, is just as wonderful as if we had’ve watched the donkey graze or see the shapes in the clouds.
Fa-la-la, Brothers. Until we meet again.
MONKS runs in Tarragon Theatre’s Extraspace until November 15. Check out their special Halloween performances as well! For more information and tickets, visit: https://tarragontheatre.com/plays/tarragon-season-26-27/monks/
Cover Photo: Annie Luján. Photo by Jae Yang.
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