NEW YORK (CBSNewYork) -  The 13th annual Midtown International Theatre Festival kicks off Monday in Manhattan, featuring more than thirty new plays, musicals and special events.

“The stories are very eclectic”, Co-Artistic Director Gerald van Heerden tells 1010 WINS, “but they tend to also be very personal and have a particular point of view with subject matters that go across the spectrum”.

1010 WINS’ Susan Richard reports: 

Among the plays, “Falling Awake”, described as the wacky encounters of two women with the reincarnations of the men they loved, “Final Analysis”, in which Sigmund Freud nearly destroys the world, “Head Over Heels In Saudi Arabia”, a coming of age story about a Saudi woman, and “Braced”, about a teen with scoliosis navigating the high school social scene while being forced to wear a body brace.

The musicals and special events include the beat poetry performance “A Taste of Chocolate” about the struggles of being a gay black man in our society, and the musical “No Complications, Please”, which Van Heerden says is a contemporary twist on the old romantic musicals of yesteryear.

The festival is the brainchild of John Chatterton, publisher and editor of The Off-Off Broadway Review.  For the full schedule of performances and ticket information, visit www.midtownfestival.org.