Loopshop 8: Get Back

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.)

First up is Get Back, written by Strangeloop Company Member Keith Gatchel.

A boy tries to build a potato-powered time machine so he can go back in time and avenge a playground wrong ... sort of ... but before anything happens he receives an ominous warning from a strange man.

Directed by Spenser Davis, Get Back stars Gage Wallace as Jimmy and Christopher Paul Mueller as Billy.

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: Spenser Davis

Spenser Davis (Director, Get Back) is really tired of his actors' shenanigans. Previous directing credits include The Picklebot & Lawfer Comedy Festival (Strawdog), Today We Escape (Tympanic), One Minute Play Festival (The Den), All in the Timing (Stage 773), arciTEXT (Arc Theatre), The Ella Plays (Indie Boots) and the Midwest Premiere of From White Plains for Broken Nose Theatre, where he is the Director of Programming. Spenser is also an actor and playwright, and has worked with companies that include American Theater Company, Chicago Dramatists, Stage Left Theatre, Promethean, Red Theater, Waltzing Mechanics and Mary-Arrchie. He is a regular and staff writer on Under Covers, a new SAG-AFTRA web series, and is developing his full-length play Merge as part of The New Colony's Writers Room. He is also the current Artistic Director of Hobo Junction.

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!