More Than Two Dozen Works Set for 2015 MIDWINTER MADNESS Festival

John Chatterton's midwinter festival turns five this year. The celebration includes comedies, dramas, musicals, and children's shows exploring the stars and the mind; life and the afterlife -- with Marilyn Monroe, Amelia Earhart, and William Shakespeare; meet Korean brides and Middle-Eastern couples; solve mysteries from as far as England -- and as close as the men's room! Visit www.midtownfestival.org for tickets and see more than one.

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A BRIEF INTRODUCTION TO ASTROPHYSICS by Jake Rose and Jamie Thomson

Somewhere in a park, in the depths of an unending night, Franklin and Luis sit, waiting. Moved to speculation by the surrounding darkness, A Brief Introduction to Astrophysics navigates questions of mortality, isolation, theories of knowledge, and how astronauts brush their teeth. (Comedy/Drama)

Performance Schedule: Wed 2/25, 7:15pm; Fri 2/27, 6pm; Sun 3/1, 12:00pm

Running time: 45 minutes

AMELIA AND HER PAPER TIGERS by Heddy Lahmann-Rosen and Ilanna Saltzman

Two travelers open a trunk with artifacts from Amelia Earhart's life and adventures. Using the clues they find inside, they conjure up Amelia's family, meet the female aviators of her time, fly alongside her flying partners, and enjoy the myriad people who inspired her. Join Amelia on her daring flights and learn how her love for aviation gave her the courage to conquer the gender roles of her time and overcome her own fears and doubts. (Suitable for Children)

Performance Dates: Tue 2/10, 6pm; Sat 2/14, 5:30pm; Sun 2/15, 5pm

Running time: 60 minutes

AMTRAK 284 EMPIRE SERVICE by Paloma D'Auria

Amtrak 284 Empire Service follows two couples backwards and forwards through the history and future of their relationships. As one pair falls together another falls apart. These four young lovers struggle to oppose the rigged clinches that bind them to the tracks that they're on; questioning the conventional relationships they were taught to idealize.

Performance Dates: Mon 2/9, 7:15pm; Thu 2/12, 7:15pm; Sat 2/14, 4:30

Running time: 30 minutes

BETRAYED BY THE MIND by S. Karlan

A play encompassing three sketches with characters that become aware of the psychological limitations they have imposed on themselves. (Drama)

Performance Dates: Wed 2/25, 8:30pm; Fri 2/27, 7:15pm; Sun 3/1, 2:30

Running time: 60 minutes

CANAAN by Mohammed Saad Ali

Ali, the voice of the 21st Century's newest oppressed immigrant, continues the journey that began with Old Men are Full of S**t, winner of three MITF Awards. This time, we meet, Yacub & Rachel -- a Muslim man and Jewish woman -- both from the Middle East, now are living in Brooklyn with Yacub's sister, Dina. The family is forced into a new chapter in their lives -- one they cannot afford -- and may not even want! (Drama)

Wednesday, 2/18, 8:45 p.m.; Friday, 2/20, 7:30 p.m.; Sunday, 2/22, 2:30 p.m.

Running time: 30 minutes

COPSE by Emily Dinova

The story of a man who has lost everything and takes what he believes to be the final night of his life to recount his past and face judgment from those who he has wronged. This piece acts as a modernized re-imagining of the tale of Henry VIII and his six wives. It strives to test the limits of a person's darkness and questions whether all of us, even those most wicked, are capable of holding onto our mortal souls. (Drama)

Performance Dates: Tue 2/24, 9:45pm; Sat 2/28, 7:45pm; Sun 3/1, 7:45pm

Running time: 60 minutes

CRABAPPLE NIGHT by Amy Drake

The mysterious disappearance of a kindly gentleman causes havoc and mayhem when the neighborhood children suspect foul play. (Suitable for Children)

Performance Dates: Wed 2/18, 6pm; Fri 2/20, 6pm; Sun 2/22, 1pm

Running time: 60 minutes

DEATH OF A SHOE SALESMAN by Stephen Spurling

A therapy group at the home of a vacuous neurotic, with a childlike nerd and an angry cynic as her guests, turns deadly when a duplicitous salesman arrives to hawk shoes. (Drama)

Performance Dates: Mon 2/23, 7:30pm; Thu 2/26, 8:45pm; Sat 2/28, 2:15pm

Running time: 60 minutes

THE GATE by Leonard Goodisman

The play takes place over a spread of twenty five years. Corporal Larry, in Korea during the Korean War, sets out to marry a young woman he has fallen for while stationed near her village. Especially because Larry is black, he (and later, they) encounter strange resistance, from her family as well as from the military (essentially, Larry's family). That pattern continues throughout their life, evolving however into a beautiful testimony for which they are, and what they come to represent. (Comedy/Drama)

Performance Dates: Mon 2/23, 9pm; Thu 2/26, 6pm; Sat 2/28, 3:45pm

Running time: 60 minutes

HEAVY LIFTING by Boris Timanovsky

Go West, young man... unless you're looking for a mail-order bride. In which case, go East! (Comedy/Drama)

Performance Dates: Mon 2/23, 6pm; Thu 2/26, 7:30pm; Sat 2/28, 1pm

Running time: 45 minutes

HIGH STAKES SODA MACHINE by Joshua Young

A broken soda machine causes co-workers to accumulate and wait for their sodas, which never seem to come. As they collectively gather and become more and more frustrated at the machine, they start revealing secrets they've learned about one another and their boss. (Comedy)

Performance Dates: Wed 2/11, 6pm; Fri 2/13, 6pm; Sun 2/15, 4pm

Running time: 30 minutes

IN SITU by Susan Jackson

What starts off as a pleasant afternoon of teasing between Henri and Beth (best friends forever) on a very hot summer day in Charlotte, North Carolina turns into a modern Southern gothic tale of two secrets too many. They discover that what draws them together may ultimately tear them apart. Presented by the San Francisco based Southern Railroad Theatre Company. (Comedy/Drama)

Performance Dates: Mon 2/16, 8:45pm; Thu 2/19, 7:45pm; Sat 2/21, 5:45pm

Running time: 30 minutes

LEGACY: MARILYN MONROE MEETS SHAKESPEARE By Viktoria I.V. King

Marilyn Monroe meets William Shakespeare as well as other fallen stars in a purgatory asylum; it is there where she becomes his muse. (Drama)

Performance Dates: Tue 2/10, 8:30; Sat 2/14, 8pm; Sun 2/15, 6:30pm

Running time: 60 minutes

LIGHTS by Ashley Nicole Audette

What happens when life takes a turn that is unexpected? Is anything really a coincidence? In Lights by Ashley Nicole Audette we search for these answers and more as we meet two strangers that cross paths far from home on Christmas Eve. (Comedy/Drama)

Performance Dates: Tue 2/10, 7:30pm; Sat 2/14, 7pm; Sun 2/15, 8pm

Running time: 30 minutes

LOOK ALIVE, STARSHINE by Sean Jenny

Buffalo, New York. December 1st. A young woman and her significant other are trapped inside, cleansing her apartment. Her world is deteriorating. Who will escape? (Drama)

Performance Dates: Tue 2/17, 7pm; Sat 2/21, 6:45; Sun 2/22, 5pm

Running time: 45 minutes

MASKS by Trevor Durham

MASKS is a dramedy dealing with what it means to be alive, the reliability of identity, and what it means to suffer. Through each other's humanity and mortality, Mr. Prosopon and Joshua learn that life will always change, and you simply have to keep taking the hits. Joshua Larson stumbles into Prosopon's shop one day and finds himself in a strange new world. Prosopon offers Joshua a way out of his pain, with no strings attached. Joshua takes that path, and it leads both him and Prosopon into a journey neither expected. (Comedy/Drama)

Performance Dates: Tue 2/24, 6pm; Sat 2/28, 5:15pm; Sun 3/1, 4pm

Running time: 45 minutes

MINISKIRT THEORY by Arthur W. French III

A memo sends workers into a "relaxed" dress code. (Comedy)

Performance Dates: Mon 2/9, 6pm; Thu 2/12, 6pm; Sat 2/14, 3:15pm

Running time: 45 minutes

NEEDLE ANNA AND ADAM: A CHARRED CHARITY TALE IN ONE ACT by Doug DuBrin

Sister Anna, an iconoclastic nun, and Adam, an affection-yearning heroin addict, make a meaningful connection at Anna's radical "medical" clinic. (Drama)

Performance Dates: Tue 2/24, 8:30pm; Sat 2/28, 6:30; Sun 3/1, 5:15pm

Running time: 45 minutes

NELLY by William Holland

Performance Dates: Wed 2/18, 7:30pm; Fri 2/20, 8:45pm; Sun 2/22, 3:45pm

Running time: 45 minutes

ONE PERCENT by Lanner Tremont

Performance Dates: Mon 2/16, 6pm; Thu 2/19, 8:45; Sat 2/14, 3pm

Running time: 30 minutes

PARADISE GAINED by Renee McNeil

She came to turn the club around, but who was she and what was her price? (Drama)

Performance Dates: Tue 2/17, 8:15pm; Sat 2/21, 9pm; Sun 2/22 7:15pm

Running time: 60 minutes

STALLED by Christopher Sirota

Genesis Repertory and The M Center for the Arts take you to a new kind of battleground ... and for a different kind of throne. Over lunch Stanley and Ron relate the tale of the battle in the men's toilet. Two men, one cellphone ... no rest in the restroom ... who will poop out first! (Comedy)

Performance Dates: Tue 2/17, 6pm; Sat 2/21, 8pm; Sun 2/22, 6:15pm

Running time: 30 minutes

THEY DRINK by Ian Campbell

College is over and a group of friends struggle to find structure in their lives, but all they have is drinking games on Saturday nights. This is one of those Saturday nights. (Comedy)

Performance Dates: Wed 2/11, 8pm; Fri 2/13, 7pm; Sun 2/15, 2:30pm

Running time: 60 minutes

WHAT GHOSTS AROUND COMES AROUND by Larry Hassman

Who-done-it ???? Find out in this wonderful spoof on British murder mysteries. There are lots of clues, everyone is suspect. Figure it out if you can!!!!!!!! (Comedy/Mystery)

Performance Dates: Wed 2/25, 6pm; Fri 2/27, 8:45pm; Sun 3/1, 1:15pm

Running time: 45 minutes

YOU/ME, Two Short Plays and a Brief Musical about Relationships by Barbara Blatner

An aunt brainwashed by a data-collecting "Agency" who refuses to recognize her long lost niece, two sisters who quarrel over the writing of a revealing family memoir, and two elderly lovers who sing their way to love before it is too late are the stories of our offering. (Comedy/Drama/Musical)

Performance Dates: Mon 2/16, 7pm, Thu 2/19, 6pm; Sat 2/21, 4pm

Running time: 75 minutes