Addison — One of the new concepts for WaterTower Theatre's Out of the Loop Festival this year was that those who had festival passes were allowed to vote for their favorite performances in each of the Addison Theatre Centre's three spaces: the Main Stage, Studio Theatre and Stone Cottage.
An email ballot went out Friday night after the final two Loop shows premiered, and the results were just announced. The winning shows will be presented once more, at 7:30 p.m. on Sunday, March 11, to close out the festival.
That's good news if you missed any of them, or enjoyed them so much that you want to catch them again.
And the winners are:
- Haven Production, International Falls (Main Stage)
- Outcry Theatre, dark play or stories for boys (Studio Theatre)
- Diana Sheehan in Midway: Crisis or Carnival? (Stone Cottage)
The final performances of the Loop favorites will be on Sunday, March 11 at 7:30 p.m. in the Main Stage, Studio Theatre and Stone Cottage. Single tickets are $10 and Loop passholder's admission is free.
Here are the descriptions of the shows, with links to our reviews. Although I didn't see dark play, I can wholeheartedly get behind International Falls and Midway (those rank in my personal top three, along with W.B. Spotlight Productions' Fronteras Americanas).
Haven Productions presents International Falls by Thomas Ward. It's the story of a burned out standup comedian and a hotel desk clerk trying to enjoy a one-night stand after a comedy show. What begins as an innocuous frolic turns into a philosophical discussion of comic theory, marriage, parenthood, religion, and fart jokes? The line between comedy and tragedy is blurred as both characters are forced to ask the inevitable post-coital question, "Now what?" Contains profanity and adult content.
In Carlos Murillo's dark play or stories for boys (Studio Theatre), Nick, a brilliant but desperately lonely teen, discovers the intoxicating pleasures of creating fake online personas, toying with faceless strangers. Nick stumbles across the words, "I want to fall in love," on 16-year-old Adam's profile. Intrigued, Nick creates the girl of Adam's dreams. But when Adam insists on meeting her, Nick loses control of his game, with catastrophic and thrilling consequences. Contains adult language and intense sexuality.
Midway: Crisis or Carnival? (Stone Cottage) is a cabaret in two acts. Written and performed by Diana Sheehan, Midway asks the critical mid-life question: crisis or carnival? The show explores mid-life themes of re-awakening and longing through the American songbook. Midway was first performed in New York City at the Triad. The show's musical direction is by James McQuillen. 
