Local playwright Andrew Kozmaย’s Tuned to a Dead Channel finds a loose thread and just keeps pulling. ย“Itย’s a close-up of a slow unraveling of a person,ย” says director Erin Kidwell, who, along with Kozma, is co-founder of the brand-new Theatre 42. The play, which is making its world premiere here, follows Andrea, a girl whose life canย’t seem to get any worseย…until it does. ย“She thought she was standing on a mountain and it turns out itย’s a pile of sand,ย” says Kidwell. ย“The whole thing seems to be uncontrollably slipping out from under her.ย” After losing her job, Andrea turns to family and friends. ย“And then those things start falling away, and then she focuses on what she has left now and then those things start falling awayย…,ย” explains Kidwell. But the twist is, this doesnย’t get her down ย— Andrea never becomes cynical. Kozma says this is the battle within the battle. ย“Itย’s the constant struggle of optimism against reality,ย” he says. See which one wins when the play debuts 8 p.m., July 23. Regular performances are 8 p.m. Thursdays and Fridays, 2 and 8 p.m. Saturdays and 2 p.m. Sundays. Through Augustย 1. Midtown Art Center, 3414 La Branch. For information, call 713-521-8803 or visit www.midtownartcenter.com. $10.

Thursdays-Sundays. Starts: July 23. Continues through Aug. 1, 2010

This article appears in Jul 22-28, 2010.