Photo Flash: Sneak Peek at the 2015 MIDWINTER MADNESS FESTIVAL

Scroll down for a sampling of photos from John Chatterton's Fifth Annual Midwinter Madness Play Festival, featuring:

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. (Childrens)
Performance Dates: Tue 2/10, 6pm; Sat 2/14, 5:30pm; Sun 2/15, 5pm
Running time: 60 minutes
Venue: The Roy Arias Studios, Stage II - 300 W. 43rd St., 4th floor
http://www.bondst.org/young-audiences.html

BROWN GIRL. BLUEGRASS by Lacresha Berry
An autobiographical one woman show of the author, Berry, "Brown girl. Bluegrass." examines the rarely documented cultural history of African-Americans in Kentucky. Berry blends the perspectives of her own childhood through Kentucky geography and personal events while honoring the work of important ancestors whose lives parallel with her own. Her take on the culture, geography, and history of Kentucky is poignant, didactic, and enlightening as we see the historical figures of our enriching and emotional past come to life with ancestral music to soundtrack these powerful stories. (Drama/Musical)
Performance Dates: Fri 2/13, 8:30pm; Sat 2/14, 8:00pm
Running time: 65 minutes
Venue: The Roy Arias Studios, Stage II - 300 W. 43rd St., 4th floor

CANAAN by Mohammed Saad Ali
Genesis Repertory and The M Center for the Arts bring you Mohammed Saad Ali's continuing saga about the 21st Century's newest immigrant. CANAAN takes us to a seedy apartment in Brooklyn. Yacub and his family prepare for another life change. One they cannot afford and might now even want - just one more "burden of love." (Drama)
Performance Dates: Wed 2/18, 8:45pm; Fri 2/20, 7:30pm; Sun 2/22, 2:30pm
Running time: 30 minutes
Venue: The Roy Arias Studios, Stage II - 300 W. 43rd St., 4th floor
www.themcenter.org

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. (Comedy)
Performance Dates: 2/23, 7:30pm; Thu 2/26, 8:45pm; Sat 2/28, 2:15pm
Running time: 60 minutes
Venue: The Roy Arias Studios, Stage II - 300 W. 43rd St., 4th floor

THE DIVVY by Jeanne Chenault Porter
Genuine or fake? Charlie knows but can that save him in an art world of hoarding, forgery, theft, and even murder? (Comedy/Drama)|
Performance Dates: Tue 2/24, 7:15pm; Sat 2/28, 9:15pm; Sun 3/1, 6:30pm
Running time: 45 minutes
Venue: The Roy Arias Studios, Stage II - 300 W. 43rd St., 4th floor

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
Venue: The Roy Arias Studios, Stage II - 300 W. 43rd St., 4th floor

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
Venue: The Roy Arias Studios, Stage II - 300 W. 43rd St., 4th floor

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
Venue: The Roy Arias Studios, Stage II - 300 W. 43rd St., 4th floor

PARADISE GAINED by Renee McNeil. Actress, Writer, Director, Singer, Producer.
Produced by Renee McNeil and Albert Bramante.
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
Venue: The Roy Arias Studios, Stage II - 300 W. 43rd St., 4th floor
http://reneemcneil7.wix.com/reneemcneil

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 ... 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
Venue: The Roy Arias Studios, Stage II - 300 W. 43rd St., 4th floor
www.themcenter.org

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
Venue: The Roy Arias Studios, Stage II - 300 W. 43rd St., 4th floor