The Detour Festival is WaterTower Theatre’s renewed investment in the creation and development of new work. The festival will consist of four new play readings, three devised works, and two “late nite” performances.

New play readings

• March 1 (7 pm): Wally World by Isaac Gomez - It's Christmas Eve and Wally World employees are about to lose it. On the one day of the year this mega department superstore is to close its doors for the holidays, secrets come to life as store manager, Andy, does everything in her power to keep her store in line and her employees in check. But can hard truths from her past ruin everything she's ever worked for? Wally World is a hysterical examination of finding magic in the mundane as eleven employees do everything they can to find purpose in a place that has never seen purpose in them.
• March 3 (5 pm): Origin Story by Nathan Alan Davis - Margaret is working two jobs to pay down her debt. During the day she’s wading through office triviality at The Services Corporation, and by night she’s working the drive through of The Burg, a 24/7 fast food restaurant. Overtired and ungrounded, and abandoned by her parents at birth, Margaret doesn’t know who she is or what she’s aiming for. But through co-workers and friends, this existential crisis begins to turn around as connections are found in the most unsuspecting of places. Funny and heartfelt, Origin Story is a contemporary look at the quarter-life crisis and how to connect in an unconnected world.
• March 4 (2 pm): All’s Well That Ends Well, a new American translation by Virginia Grise - As part of commission by Oregon Shakespeare Festival, Grise was one of 36 playwrights asked to translate a Shakespeare play into contemporary modern English, keeping in mind meter, rhythm, metaphor, image, rhyme, rhetoric and emotional content. All’s Well That Ends Well follows the romantic story of Helena, who falls in love with the unloving Bertram, and the great lengths she’ll go to make their marriage work.
• March 4 (5 pm): Heaven’s Gates, Hell’s Flames by Janielle Kastner - Run lines. Test sound cues. Ask the Holy Spirit to move through the audience. The congregation of Living Way Church has devised an original new play that, if done well, will save souls for the Kingdom of God. From set-up, rehearsal, production, to strike, Heaven's Gates, Hell’s Flames eavesdrops on a community discovering what it takes to bring heaven to earth. An intimate examination of a faith community behind closed doors, Heaven's Gates... is a big-little play at the intersection of performance and faith, judgment and redemption, and the indignity and dignity of making new things.

Devised works

• March 2 (8 pm): Prism Movement Theater presents As Dreams Are Made On - This fantastical story follows a lonely and ship-wrecked Prospero as she seeks revenge after being betrayed by her brother, Antonio. While fighting to survive and maintain her sanity, Prospero encounters Sycorax, a woman who can control the forces of nature. While navigating the rules of the island and how to overcome her past, Prospero's pain and despair leads her to become the very monster she never wanted to be.
• March 3 (2 pm): Cry Havoc Theater Company presents Sex Ed - In the wake of the #MeToo movement, conversations about sexual impropriety are front and center in our collective consciousness. Yet, we seem to have collective amnesia when it comes to our own teenage years and the value of honest, accurate information about our bodies. How do we as a society frame conversations about healthy relationships and consent with young people when many among us refuse to discuss comprehensive sex education? What kind of effect is "abstinence only" education having on the American psyche?
• March 3 (8 pm): Dark Circles Contemporary Dance presents 3 New Creations - DCCD will present a workshop production of Founder and Artistic Director Joshua L. Peugh’s new interpretation of pansori Sugungga (수궁가), based on an ancient Korean folktale about The Dragon King, a turtle, and a rabbit. Los Angeles-based pansori singer June Lee provides live music for the work. The program will also feature a newly commissioned creation choreographed by guest artist and winner of the Princess Grace Award for Choreography, Gabrielle Lamb.

Late Nite performances

• March 2 (10 pm): Veteran Children - Veteran Children, a Dallas-based band consisting of members Ian Ferguson, Aubrey Ferguson, and Drew Wall - along with additional supporting players - perform original alt-rock music with influences ranging from classic rock, folk, punk, and hymns. Whether telling personal narratives or ones based on other works of fiction told from a personal perspective, it's always within the context that life is a uniting and seamless experience from start to finish. There are no adults; only veteran children.
• March 3 (10 pm) : Brigham Mosley Presents Movies That Should be Musicals: My Best Friend’s Wedding - Movies That Should Be Musicals is a one-of-a-kind night of live music, dance, and ir/reverent commentary. Along with professional dancers and a live band, performer Brigham Mosley constructs an entirely original (off-off-off-off) Broadway production out of cult-classic films.