Midwinter Madness Festival Comes To Times Square Arts Center

In less than three weeks the first annual Midwinter Madness Festival is set to take New York City by storm, with a cornucopia of one-acts by up-and-coming artists and theatre companies all looking to make their mark on the Big Apple. With a line-up that includes such subjects as the Iraq War, mother and child relationships, and attempted suicide -- not to mention open marriages, answering machines, and a magic donkey -- there is certainly something for everyone. Presented by John Chatterton and beginning February 10th, Midwinter Madness will take place at the Payan Theatre in the Roy Arias Studios, located on the 5th floor of the Times Square Arts Center, at 300 West 43rd Street. Reviewers are welcome at all performances.

"I'm very excited about Midwinter Madness," Chatterton noted. "There are some very interesting works that I'm looking forward to seeing and I would not be at all surprised to see a good number of them go on to the next level, whether that means becoming full-length pieces or finding life in other places on the Festival circuit. Of course we need bodies in seats to tell the playwrights what works and what doesn't. So take a good look at our fantastic lineup and start picking the shows you definitely want to check out."

Here are some of the plays to be found in Midwinter Madness:

Within the Skins of Saints: A young woman about to commit suicide in front of an oncoming subway train is stopped by a man on his way to work. Can he prevent her from taking that final, fatal leap? Or will she convince him to join her?

Blue: On her 40th birthday Helen, an avid art-lover, finds her husband in bed with a 20 year-old blue-haired girl, sending the older woman on a very personal journey of self-discovery.

Goons on the Loose: This NYC comedy troupe tries to answer the question on everyone's mind: what do answering machines, Catholicism and baseball -- not to mention the frugality of man -- have in common?

Call Us Cowboys: A marine corporal is accused of killing innocent civilians in Iraq and it turns out his interrogator has his own secret, from another conflict -- in a place called Viet Nam.

The Magic Table, The Gold Donkey and The Cudgel in the Sack: Based on the Grimm's fairy tale about three children, the magic objects they find and the landlord who tries to steal them.

Mothers and Daughters: The relationship between a not-so-favorite daughter and her aging and ill mother is explored though humor, drama, story and song.

One Drop: Based on a true story, this tale (with appropriate blues music) details the experiences of a mulatto attempting to pass for white in 1800s Louisiana.

The Value of Empty Boxes: A struggling young artist moves in with a real estate developer. When his career stays stagnant, should she start over with him somewhere else or stay and watch her own star continue to rise?

John Chatterton has been active in New York theatre for close to two decades. He founded oobr (the off-off-broadway review), and began presenting the annual Midtown InterNational Theatre Festival (now in its 12th year) in 2000. His other projects have included Beyond The Veil (which he wrote and produced), the children's show Captain Marbles And His Acting Squad, The Midtown Cabaret Festival and the ongoing Short Play Lab.

Running February 10th thru February 27th at the Roy Arias Studio in the Times Square Arts Center at 300 West 43rd Street (between 8th & 9th Avenues) in the fifth floor Payan Theatre, each of the shows in Midwinter Madness will play a total of 3 performances over a single week during the Festival's approximately three-week run. Performances begin at 6pm Monday to Friday and run from 12 noon till approximately 11pm on Saturday and Sunday. Individual shows run 30-60 minutes. Tickets for specific shows will be $12.00 or $15.00 and can be purchased by calling 212-868-4444 or going to www.smarttix.com and searching for MIDWINTER MADNESS.

A complete schedule of shows and show times is available on www.smarttix.com (search for Midwinter Madness). A Midwinter Madness master schedule is available upon request.

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