Columbus' longest-running shorts festival returns to the stage after 19 months

Greater Columbus’s longest-running shorts festival is back.

MadLab Theatre’s Theatre Roulette 2021, which will open Dec. 2, at 227 N. 3rd St. after a 19-month hiatus, will offer three rotating bills of new comedies and dramas.

“It’s taken a long time to get here, but worth the wait,” said Stephen Woosley, a festival coordinator involved in each Roulette from 2005 to 2019.

“We’re grateful because we never thought this Roulette was going to happen after the pandemic hit,” said director Mary Sink, participating in her eighth Roulette.

Forty actors will perform the 21-play lineup of the 21st festival, selected by MadLab members in 2019-2020 from about 1,300 submissions by international playwrights.

• The Green Night (8 p.m. Dec. 2, 10, and 18) offers seven plays curated by Woosley. “As curator, I support the writers, directors and actors, supervise who else will help the night and figure out the play order,” he said.

Woosley directs three Green plays: “Only Essentials,” a comic drama by Michael P. Adams (Glendora, California); “It Was Nice,” a comedy by Marty Matfess (Augusta, Georgia); and “Oh, Baby,” a comedy by Julia Dirkes-Jacks (Benoit, Wisconsin)

Adams’ play revolves around an older married couple, packing to leave home during a California forest fire.

“When they find their son’s ashes, it sparks tender, sensitive moments about their years in that house. ... It’s cool to see a play about a vibrant, loving older couple,” Woosley said.

He described “It Was Nice,” about a young couple discussing the implications of their first sexual encounter, as a sweet comedy.

“Early in their dating, they get into the emotions of what it means and whether they’ll see each other again. The play shows that dating is hard for everybody,” Woosley said.

In Dirkes-Jacks’ screwball comedy, two couples bring home the wrong babies.

“Fast-paced and with lots of physical humor, this play is about how all babies look alike. ... I think this is the funniest of all the comedies,” Woosley said.

Also part of the Green lineup: “The Hard Woo,” a comedy by Alex Dremann (Philadelphia) about a woman who wants her fiance to sow wild oats before their wedding; “Bad Neighbors,” a comedy by Ava Love Hanna (Austin, Texas) about what really happens at Homeowner Association board meetings; “The Speedy Gonzales Memorial Turtle Sanctuary,” a drama by Amber Palmer (Kalamazoo, Michigan) about a lesbian couple coping with stress; and “It Was Probably A Mannequin,” a comedy by MadLab ensemble member Dallas Ray (Columbus) about two true-crime fans whose judgment is distorted when they find a body in a lake.

• The Red Night (8 p.m. Dec. 3, 11 and 16 and 2 p.m. Dec. 18) offers seven shorts that festival production manager/performer Colleen Dunne compares to tapas or dim sum. “I enjoy how playwrights squeeze plot, character and witty dialogue into a few pages,” Dunne said.

On the Red bill: “Next Year,” a comedy by Bethany Dickens (Orlando, Florida) about a divorced couple who meet annually; “Batman vs. The Joker at The Laundromat,” Emily Hageman’s (Sioux City, Iowa) comedy how a hero/villain relationship is sabotaged; and “Wild Dark,” a drama by V. Arden Shepard (Philadelphia; Durham, North Carolina) about a girl who meets a wolf in the woods.

Dunne plays Ashley, directing a play in “Love’s Disenlightenment,” a comedy by Jeff Dunne (Eldersburg, Maryland). “The play, entirely performed by a stick and lamp. ... is a bit meta, one of my favorite pieces and fun to play because I identify with Ashley,” Dunne said.

Dunne plays Jess in “Riley,” a drama by Sophia Menconi (Granville) about three women who get lost in the West Virginia woods while hunting the Mothman.

“They’re honoring a female friend who died recently. ... It’s a drama about dealing with loss and grief,” Dunne said.

She plays Tina in “Backseat Driver," Mullen’s comedy about an inebriated woman who climbs into a man’s car, thinking it’s her Uber.

“Charming Tina gets under his skin. ... It’s fun as an actor to get silly onstage, and getting to act drunk gives you lots of opportunities,” Dunne said.

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Sink, who directs “Backseat Driver,” also directs “It’s Always the Quiet Ones,” a comedy by Sharai Bohanon (Chicago).

“It’s a sitcom-style romp, with some absurdity, about two kids in an improv class luring in dudes through Tinder and pretending to be crazy to see what they’ll do,” Sink said.

“Funny Roulette plays help you recoup from the heart-wrenching pieces. ... Laughter is the best gift,” she said.

• The Black Night (8 p.m. Dec. 4, 9 and 17 and 4 p.m. Dec. 18) offers seven shorts sound-designed by curator Susie McGarry, involved in Roulette since 2017.

“With most shorts eight to 13 minutes long, you really have to get to the point... Not all plays require sound beyond intro and exit music, but for a few, I get to flex my creativity with sound effects,” McGarry said.

For “Precipice,” Dreman’s romantic comedy about two office co-workers who meet on their ninth-floor outside ledge, McGarry added High Street sounds recorded from passing cars and squealing bus brakes. “I like to make each sound design unique by editing and layering sounds,” she said.

For “SuperBlood Wolf Moon,” a supernatural drama by Jared Michael Delaney (Philadelphia) about a first date during a New Orleans eclipse, she added bayou insect sounds, transitioning to more ominous sounds. “This one might raise goosebumps,” said McGarry, the director.

She also directs “Undead,” a horror comedy by Dana Schwartz (Los Angeles); and “Philadelphia, Direct,” a comedy by Bexley native Liam Flanigan (Chicago). “One resourceful young woman tries to survive in ‘Undead,’ set in a near-future when zombies and other monsters have emerged,” McGarry said.

“This play challenges the idea that we have to be what people expect us to be."

Two strangers meet at a bus/train ticket counter in “Philadelphia, Direct.”

“It’s lighthearted, with a bit of silliness as one man tries to get to Philadelphia,” McGarry said.

She plays ‘She’ in “The Unforgiveable Sin of Forgiveness,” a comedy by Roulette regular Rich Orloff (New York) about a flawed couple coping with infidelity. “The language is stylized and the characters cartoonish in this farcical play about manipulation,” McGarry said.

Workplace relationships and technology are explored in “Robocall,” a sci-fi-laced office comedy by Scott Mullen (Burbank, California). “Sometimes it doesn’t go well when people deal with new technology,” McGarry said.

“The Thought Doesn’t Count,” a drama by Hageman, focuses on a couple facing hard times.

“That drama,” McGarry said, “might break your heart.”

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At a glance

MadLab Theatre’s Theatre Roulette 2021 runs at 8 p.m. Dec. 2-4, Dec. 9-11, and Dec. 16-17; and 2, 4 and 8 p.m. Dec. 18, at 227 N. 3rd St. Tickets cost $35 to $51, or $13 to $18 per night. Call 614-221-5418 or visit www.madlab.net

This article originally appeared on The Columbus Dispatch: MadLab Theatre offers a roulette of 21 plays in shorts festival