Otherworld Theatre to Present Sci-Fi/Fantasy PARAGON Short Play Festival This Weekend

Otherworld Theatre Company is proud to present Paragon - a Sci-Fi/Fantasy Theatre Short Play Festival.

Paragon will perform at the Public House Theater 3914 N Clark St., Chicago. Paragon will be one of the largest collections of Science Fiction and Fantasy performance in the world. Connecting with local Chicago Artists, Paragon aims to become a recurring festival that can become a part of Chicago's cultural heritage.

The festival is curated by Otherworld Theatre Company's Literary Manager Elliott Sowards who was pleasantly surprised by the number of individual submissions, which exceeded 300.

"Originally our goal was to bring together the Science Fiction/Fantasy writers and people in the Chicago theatre community to encourage the writers to bring their stories to the stage. Science Fiction/Fantasy theatre is often ignored or dismissed as unstageable." Sowards says. However, Paragon's submission notice had a greater reach than anticipated. "We had submissions of scripts from all over the world," says Tiffany Keane, the Artistic Director and Founder of Otherworld Theatre. "We couldn't be more excited."

Paragon boasts 40 sci-fi/fantasy plays in its roster, in which over 80 theatrical artists will interoperate over the course of two days. Sowards recounts, "Because of the passionate response we received, Paragon is now one of the largest Science Fiction and Fantasy play festivals in the world."

Scripts submitted include notables like Chie-Hoon Lee's uncanny play For the Living as well as local Chicago playwright Joseph Zettelmaier's A Place of Mist and Shadows.

Paragon runs August 22nd-23rd. Block tickets (from break to break) can be purchased at the door for $10. Day Passes are $20 to see shows Saturday from 11 AM - 7PM and Sunday from 12 PM - 10 PM. Weekend Passes are $35 for both days.

Also, the amazing Rogers Park cafe The Growling Rabbit has agreed to be our official food vendor. They will be providing local, organic meat and vegan meals during the festival.

For more information about the festival, visit www.otherworldtheatre.org. For tickets, go to www.brownpapertickets.com/event/1996061.

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FULL UPDATED SCHEDULE:

SATURDAY AUG 22nd:

11:00 AM: A Place of Mist and Shadows (20 minutes) Written by Joseph Zettelmaier
Directed by Justin Verstraete

11:40 AM: Allergy (20 Minutes) Written by Erica Smith Directed by John Morrison

12:00 PM: Sandstorm (15 Minutes) Written by Dwayne Yancey Directed by George Infantado

BREAK 12:15-12:25 PM

12:25 PM: Utopia (1 Hour) Written by Angeli Primlani Directed by Tiffany Keane

1:25 PM: Howard (15 Minutes) Written by Mark Harvey Levine Directed by Moira Begale

BREAK 1:40-1:50 PM

1:50 PM: An Infestation of Monsters (20 Minutes) Written by Laura Pfizenmayer
Directed by Molly Donahue

2:10 PM: Sleeping Through Armageddon (20 Minutes) Written by Tess Light
Directed by Andrew Kudla

2:30 PM: Mars One Project (20 Minutes) Written by Jennifer Lynne Roberts Directed by Jonald Reyes

2:50 PM: Can Cause Death (20 Minutes) Written by Gerry Ringwald
Directed by Justin Verstraete

BREAK 3:10-3:20 PM

3:20 PM: 85 Billion Neurons to Forever (25 Minutes) Written by Barbara Lhota
Directed by John Morrison

3:55 PM: A Life (30 Minutes) Written by Piers Beckley Directed by Suzanna Ziko

4:20 PM Anatomy of a Manic Pixie Dream Girl (15 Minutes) Written by Nick Izzo
Directed by Moira Begale

BREAK 4:35-4:45 PM

4:45 PM: The Burden of Noel (30 Minutes) Written by Raynee Morris
Directed by Molly Donahue

5:15 PM: Dream, Dream, Dream (15 Minutes) Written by Michael Weems
Directed by Andrew Kudla

5:30 PM: Hoffmeister's Hypothesis (20 Minutes) Written by Paul Lewis
Directed by Suzanne Ziko

BREAK 5:50-6:00 PM

6:00 PM: The Count (15 Minutes) Written by Tiffany Cascio Directed by Jonald Reyes

6:15 PM: Mercury's in Retrograde (30 Minutes) Written by Rich Orloff
Directed by Wyatt Weber

END AT 6:45 PM

SUNDAY AUG 23rd:

12:00 PM The Last Time (15 Minutes) Written by Brent Englar
Directed by Juliana Brecher

12:15 PM Oldest Living Human (15 Minutes) Written by John C. Davenport
Directed by Dylan Schaefer

12:30 PM Kako No Ayamachi Wo Tadasu Tame No Waruagaki (Fighting Past in Vain Attempt to Fix Mistakes) (20 Minutes)
Written by Jona Tarlin
Directed by Spencer Diedrick

12:50 PM Queens of the Realm (20 Minutes) Written by Ian August
Directed by Jared McDaris

BREAK 1:10 PM - 1:20 PM

1:20 PM Bad Dogs (20 Minutes) Written by James PatRick Kelly Directed by Lauren Fields

1:40 PM How You Will Die (20 Minutes) Written by Irene L. Pynn
Directed by Michael Harris

2:00 PM Voice Activated (20 Minutes) Written by Steven D. Miller
Directed by Michael Bullaro

2:20 Deb and Joan (20 Minutes) Written by Isaac Rathbone Directed by Ellen Cribs

BREAK 3:00 PM - 3:10 PM

3:10 PM Blue Lagoon (15 Minutes) Written by Thomas Pierce Directed by David Skvarla

3:30 PM: A Dream of Two Moons (15 Minutes) Written by Dorothea Cahan
Directed by Jared McDaris

3:45 PM Two Heads on a First Date (15 Minutes) Written by Ron Burch
Directed by Juliana Brecher

4:00 PM Life Changing Email (15 Minutes) Written by John C. Davenport
Directed by Dylan Schaefer

4:15 PM Quantum Entanglement (25 Minutes) Written by Robin Pond
Directed by Dave Skvarla

BREAK 4:35 PM - 4:45 PM

4:45 PM Boys Playing with Toys (35 Minutes) Written by Bennett Ayres
Directed by Spencer Diedrick

5:15 PM Zombies R Us (15 Minutes) Written by Rhea MacCallum Directed by Michael Harris

5:30 PM Universal Language (20 Minutes) Written by Marilyn Anne Campbell Directed by Lauren Fields

BREAK 5:50-6:00 PM

(In the House Theatre)

6:00 PM For The Living (30 Min) Written by Chie-Hoon Lee Directed by Tiffany Keane

6:30 PM: In a Forest (20 Minutes) Written by Ryan Sprague Directed by George Infantado

6:50 PM: Sandstorm (15 Minutes) Written by Dwayne Yancey Directed by George Infantado

7:05 PM: Transferring Kyle (20 Minutes) Written by JoNathan Cook
Directed by Grace Gimpel

7:30 PM - 8:30 PM : DINNER BREAK

(In Main Theatre)

8:30 PM Till Death Do Us Particle (15 Minutes) Written by Liz Leighton
Directed by Michael Bullaro

8:45 PM A Ship of Strong Timber (15 Minutes) Written by Isaac Rathbone
Directed by Ellen Cribs

9:00 PM: Commander Winter (20 Minutes) Written by Enrique Acosta
Directed by Amy Gorelow

9::40 PM Black Market of Memories (20 Minutes) Written by Dwayne Yancey
Directed by George Infantado

END AT 10:10 PM

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