I Can Do Bad All by Myself is a 1999 play

Play (theatre)

A play is a form of literature written by a playwright, usually consisting of scripted dialogue between characters, intended for theatrical performance rather than just reading. There are rare dramatists, notably George Bernard Shaw, who have had little preference whether their plays were performed...

 directed by, written by, and starring Tyler Perry

Tyler Perry

Tyler Perry is an American actor, director, playwright, entrepreneur, screenwriter, producer, author, and songwriter. Perry wrote and produced many stage plays during the 1990s and early 2000s. In 2005, he released his first film, Diary of a Mad Black Woman...

. The play marks for the first official appearance of the well-known fictional character

Fictional character

A character is the representation of a person in a narrative work of art . Derived from the ancient Greek word kharaktêr , the earliest use in English, in this sense, dates from the Restoration, although it became widely used after its appearance in Tom Jones in 1749. From this, the sense of...

 Mabel "Madea" Simmons, who is portrayed by Perry.

Plot summary

Vianne, a young woman who has a share of pain, moves in with her 68 year-old grandmother, Madea, in order to escape her verbally abusive and cheating husband, Anthony. Soon after her departure, she files for divorce

Divorce

Divorce is the final termination of a marital union, canceling the legal duties and responsibilities of marriage and dissolving the bonds of matrimony between the parties...

.

When Madea becomes sick, (although she is not as sick as she seems) the family comes to her rescue; her daughter, Cora; her next-door-neighbor Mr. Brown; also her granddaughter, Maylee, who also comes to visit her daughter Keisha that Madea has been taking care of since she was eight years old. However, Maylee casually strolls in and announces that she is engaged to Vianne's evil ex-husband, Anthony.

After a nearly violent argument at the dinner table, Vianne realizes that she has to let Anthony go. Even though they are divorced, he still has her in his heart. No sooner than she lets him go, she realizes that her hurt has consumed most of her life and she needs to change her ways.

Bobby, a handy man and boarder who works for Madea, immediately makes it known that he is interested in Vianne. Much to their reluctance, they start to spend time together and they realize, even though she was once a rich foolish housewife and he, a lowly handy man and ex-convict, that when "it's right, it's right". Although grandma Madea has a few things to say about their relationship, she eventually encourages it. And Bobby realizes that he is in love with Vianne and he wants her hand in marriage.

Meanwhile, Maylee finds out that her daughter Keisha got pregnant by a boy named Kelly and she's holding their child. But Keisha is only 14 years old. But through prayer, they both come to an understanding and forgive one another. In a shocking twist of events, Maylee breaks all ties with Anthony and sends him packing. Afterwards, Maylee and Keisha move into their own house and they raise the baby.

Cast

• Kisha Grandy as Vianne Griffin- Vianne is Madea's granddaughter and the main protagonist of the play, Vianne was divorced by her verbually abusive and cheating devil husband, Anthony. She never forgave him for what he did and later she found out that he was sleeping with her sister, Maylee. After Anthony called her fat, Vianne grabbed a knife and tried to commit murder. Later, she let Anthony go and was engaged by Bobby.
• Tyga Graham as Bobby Mitchell- Bobby is Madea's handy man and Vianne's fiancè, it is revealed that he was an ex-convict, Madea also said that he was dangerous because she wanted Bobby and Vianne to get together. Anthony tried to end Bobby's probation so he can make Vianne as miserable as he can, but he refused. He later got a job, but before he went he proposed to Vianne, and she said yes.
• Donna Stewart as Maylee Griffin- Vianne's younger sister, when she was young her mother was a horrible mother to both her and Vianne, as their mother allowed a man to rape her, and now everytime she looks at her daughter, who she was negleticing from the day she was born, she sees her rapist's face. She gave Keisha to Madea to watch over when she was eight-years-old. Maylee has been known to run after man after man, Anthony doesn't like Keisha and doesn't want her to be any part of his life. When Maylee found out Keisha was pregnant, she was really upset and tried to get an abortion, but it was revealed she was too far along. She claims to Cora that she was doing just fine without Jesus, but Cora knew that Maylee had to get right with him unless she wanted to end up in the devil's layer. She later decided to get right with Jesus and she later starts acting like a mother to Keisha, saying that she no longer wants to marry Anthony.
• David Mann as Leroy Brown- Mr. Brown is Madea's neighbor. He had a dog named Brown that got on Madea's last nerve, leaving her to giving Mr. Brown's dog an overdose of her pills and he dies. Mr. Brown decides to have the funeral at Madea's house as it was less expensive. It is confirmed by Madea that if you ever looked at Mr. Brown fast, he looks like Sugar Bear.
• Tamela Mann
  Tamela Mann
  Tamela J. Mann is an American actress and gospel singer, known for her role as Cora in Tyler Perry's plays, including I Can Do Bad All By Myself, Diary of a Mad Black Woman, Madea's Family Reunion, Madea's Class Reunion, Meet the Browns, and What's Done in the Dark...
  
   as Cora Jean Simmons- Cora is Madea's only living child and Vianne and Maylee's aunt. Her sister, Michelle Griffin, was a terrible mother to Vianne and Maylee, but mostly to Maylee as she let a man come in the room and rape her, Michelle let the devil use her and now Maylee is doing the same thing to Keisha. Later, Cora convinced Maylee to pray and start acting like a mother for once.
• Carl Pertile as Anthony- Anthony is Vianne's ex-husband, Maylee's ex-fiance, and the main antagonist of the play. Anthony is a verbally abusive evil man, who insulted Vianne's weight. He even talked to people like he was the boss, Vianne never forgave Anthony for his actions of divorcing her, and when Anthony insulted Vianne's weight again, she calls the police to get an ambulance and she prepares to stab him. It is hinted that Anthony doesn't like Keisha and doesn't want anything to do with her. Madea, Vianne, Keisha, Mr. Brown, Cora, and Bobby hate him because of the way he commands people to speak. His commanding and insults almost led Madea to shooting him. He tells Bobby that he plans to make Vianne as miserable as he can, after hearing this Madea attempts to kill him, but she misses. When, his car gets fixed (after Madea shoots it so he can't leave) he plans to go back home with Maylee, but Maylee calls off the engagement and tells Anthony that "I CAN DO BAD ALL BY MYSELF". Anthony leaves.
• Elaine O'Neal as Keisha Griffin-Keisha is Maylee's daughter, who was hurt by her mother's ex-men, Greg and Mike. It is stated that most of the kids in the school make fun of her, except one boy, who's name is Kelly. He calls her pretty, but Keisha thinks that he just says that to make her feel better when he is really in love with her. Maylee has always neglected her ever since she was eight years old because she couldn't let go off her past and couldn't forgive the man that raped her. Keishe later gets pregnant, but she was only 14 years old. Keisha has always been mad at Maylee for the way she treats her and for neglecting her. Maylee wanted to get her an abortion, but she was too far along. Later on, Keisha and Maylee forgive one another and Maylee decides to help Keisha raise her baby.
• Tyler Perry
  Tyler Perry
  Tyler Perry is an American actor, director, playwright, entrepreneur, screenwriter, producer, author, and songwriter. Perry wrote and produced many stage plays during the 1990s and early 2000s. In 2005, he released his first film, Diary of a Mad Black Woman...
  
   as Mable "Madea" Simmons- Madea is the matriarch of the Simmons clan. Madea never trusted Anthony and tried to prevent Vianne from marrying him, but Vianne married him anyway. Madea never forgave Anthony for breaking Vianne's heart, and neither did Vianne, Mr. Brown, or Cora. When she over heard Anthony's evil plan to make Vianne's life miserable as to have Bobby her "baby daddy" arrested, she attempted to shoot Anthony, but missed him. Later, she tells Vianne to go with Bobby and she helps them with the wedding plans, but only if Vianne drives her to the casino.

Musical Numbers

• A Motherless Child - Keisha Griffin
• Old time mix - Mr. Brown, Vianne Griffin, Maylee Griffin, and Cora Simmons Brown
• Help Me Lord - Vianne Griffin
• Let Me Hold You - Bobby
• Get Out of Here (In the Name of Jesus) - Cora Simmons Brown
• It's Gonna Be Hallelujah - Cora Simmons Brown
• God is the Answer - Cora Simmons Brown, Maylee Griffin, Bobby Mitchell, Vianne Griffin, and Keisha Griffin

Gospel Number

• I Got the Angels Watching Over Me = Mr Brown
• There's A Leak In This Old Building = Maylee
• I Know The Lord Will Make A Way - Mr Brown, Cora, Maylee, & Vianne

Mistakes

• In the beginning of the play, Keisha tells Madea and Vianne that Maylee came to her school "with a big, old wig and a mini skirt". Later in the production, however, Maylee herself said that she wore a dress (which was clearly not a mini skirt) to Keesha's school.

• The scene right before the song 'Motherless Child' when Maylee is talking to Keisha, you can hear Anthony's voice coming from what sounds like the backyard. You can even clearly see Maylee talking out the door, too. However when she goes to "check on him", she is seen going upstairs.

• When Vianne calls the police she says the address that is backwards from what's on the door. the number is 876 but she says 687

Film Adaptation

A film adaptation titled I Can Do Bad All By Myself

I Can Do Bad All By Myself (film)

Tyler Perry's I Can Do Bad All by Myself is a 2009 romantic musical comedy-drama film which was released on September 11, 2009. The film was directed, produced, and written by Tyler Perry, who also makes an appearance in the film as his signature character Madea...

, was released on September 11, 2009.

The film has a completely different storyline from the play. The only thing that remains the same is the title. Despite this, Tyler Perry

Tyler Perry

Tyler Perry is an American actor, director, playwright, entrepreneur, screenwriter, producer, author, and songwriter. Perry wrote and produced many stage plays during the 1990s and early 2000s. In 2005, he released his first film, Diary of a Mad Black Woman...

 appears as Madea.