Loopshop 8: Here's My Card

To get you in the mood for Loopshop 8 — which happens next week at The Charnel House in Logan Square — we'll be sharing some short teasers about all five of our featured plays here and on Facebook. (Like us if you haven't already.)

Here's My Card, written by Chicago playwright, actor and director Paul Tinsley.

A naive antiques dealer, who is new to town, meets a less-than-reputable stranger at a bus stop who advises him on how best to keep his condo and all its valuables safe from robbers.

Directed by Breahan Pautsch, Here's My Card stars Linsey Falls as Mr. Loozer and Joe Giovannetti as Bart.

Loopshop is Chicago-based Strangeloop Theatre's annual short play and new works series. This year's production features original short plays on topics ranging from Swedish furniture to adoption. 

Performances for Loopshop 8 will be at 8 p.m. on Monday, July 27, and Tuesday, July 28, 2015, at The Charnel House, 3421 W. Fullerton Ave., Chicago. Tickets for the show are $10 and are available at the door or online at Brown Paper Tickets. 

Loopshop 8 Bio: Breahan Pautsch

Breahan Pautsch (Director, Here's My Card) is pleased to be working with Strangeloop again after directing a staged reading of Mitera earlier this year. She earned her B.A. in Theatre and English at University of Wisconsin-Madison, and has been working in Chicago as a director, literary manager and actor since 2003. As a director, she has worked with Akvavit, Raven Theatre, The International Voices Project, Hobo Junction Productions, Full Voice Productions, Mudgeonsoul Productions and Stockyards Theatre Project. She is the Literary Manager and Director of Development for Akvavit Theatre and is a proud ensemble member with Mudgeonsoul Productions.

Casting announced for Loopshop 8

Casting is complete for Loopshop 8 and we've packed a lot of amazing talent into these bit-sized plays.

Check back next week for a more detailed look at each piece, but in the meantime let this wet your appetite.

• All the World’s An Ikea, written by Maria Burnham and directed by John Morrison,  crams massive relationship issues into a tiny "Living In 377 Sq. Ft." display space.  
• Birthday, written by Jeff Bouthiette and directed by Emmi Hilger, shows us the unexpected struggles of a lesbian couple trying to adopt. 
• Get Back, written by Keith Gatchel and directed by Spenser Davis, tells the story of two boys determined to make a potato-powered time machine that will let them right a playground wrong.
• Here’s My Card, written by Paul Tinsley and directed by Breahan Pautsch, warns us not to talk to strangers at bus stops.
• Pity & Guilt, written by L.M. Frank and directed by Maria Burnham, follows a married couple struggling to leave their past marriages behind.

Actors for these pieces include: Jean E. Burr, Alison Dornheggen, Linsey Falls, Justin Fill, Joe Giovannetti, Caitlin Jackson, Mark Lancaster, Christopher Paul Mueller, Taylor Raye and Gage Wallace.

Performances for Loopshop 8 will be at 8 p.m. on Monday, July 27, and Tuesday, July 28, 2015, at The Charnel House, 3421 W. Fullerton Ave., Chicago. Tickets for the show are $10 at the door or online at Brown Paper Tickets.

Scripts, directors announced for Loopshop 8

Loopshop 8 kicks off Strangeloop's eighth season this July with an array of bite-sized plays on topics ranging from Swedish furniture to time travel. Scripts and directors have been selected and casting is underway.

The annual series, which showcases short plays or scenes from full-length scripts in development, is set for 8 p.m. on Monday, July 27, and Tuesday, July 28, at the Charnel House in Logan Square.

The selected pieces are:

• All the World's An Ikea written by Maria Burnham and directed by John Morrison
• Birthday written by Jeff Bouthiette and directed by Emmi Hilger 
• Get Back written by Keith Gatchel and directed by Spenser Davis 
• Here's My Card written by Paul Tinsley and directed by Breahan Pautsch 
• Pity & Guilt written by L.M. Frank and directed by Maria Burnham

Tickets for Loopshop 8 are $10 and on sale now at Brown Paper Tickets. Check back here soon for casts and summaries of each piece!

Strangeloop presents a staged reading of the new play, 'Mitera'

Join us for a free staged reading of Mitera, a new work written by Strangeloop Company Member Maria Burnham.

Three, single sisters have their lives turned upside down when they find out their mother is still micromanaging their lives from beyond the grave. Mitera pokes and prods the boundaries of family loyalty and examines the idea that sometimes the people we’ve known our entire lives are the people we know the least.

The reading is directed by Breahan Eve Pautsch and stars Allison McCorkle as Olga Sheridan, Holly Robison as Nitsa Sheridan, Cyra K. Polizzi as Dimitra Sheridan, Lona Livingston as Sharon Kaskalis and Tim Lee as Dimitris Kokkinakis.

Mitera is part of Strangeloop Theatre's development series. A scene from Mitera was originally featured in our short play and new works development series, Loopshop, in 2013. That version was directed by Elana Elyce, and starred Allison McCorkle as Olga, Stella Martin as Nitsa and Cyra K. Polizzi as Dimitra.

The reading takes place in upstairs room of the Celtic Crown (4301 N. Western Ave., Chicago).